We received a letter today from Alison W, a 29 year old battling refractory Hodgkins Lymphoma that we thought we’d share with you all.  Thank you to all of our supporters for making it possible to help this young woman in need.

Mary, I received the check in the mail today. THANK YOU so very much for your kindness! It is going to help me immensely!! <3

My story goes a little something like this:

On August 18th 2010, I was diagnosed with stage 4 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. I started seeing a local Oncologist who began a chemotherapy regiment. After eight months, my scan came back clear and I was taken off the chemo. A few months later the cancer came back and they started me on another type of chemo. This also helped for awhile, but then the cancer came back. At this point my local doctor referred me to a bone marrow transplant specialist at the Mayo Clinic.

I was in my third semester of school and wanted to graduate with my class, so I asked to postpone the transplant until after I graduated. December 2011, I not only walked across the stage with my class to receive my degree with honors, but was also the commencement speaker and graduated as the “Outstanding Student” for my program.

After graduation it was time for an autogenic transplant. The transplant seemed to be successful for awhile, and then again my scan came back with uptake. At this point, they tried another chemo treatment, and again, it only worked for awhile before the stubborn cancer came back.

Currently, I am on my second clinical trial, and as always, it seems to work for awhile and then the cancer comes back. There is talk of an allogeneic transplant in my near future, so we will take it as it comes. As for now, I focus on life day by day and try to enjoy every one to the fullest!

Thank you so much to the McLean Family for your compassion and generosity! You have made my journey easier, and filled it with more hope and smiles!

Alison Will