Warrior Stories

When I was first diagnosed and told I needed to go through chemotherapy, one of the most troubling side effects to come to terms with was hair loss. I desperately wanted to keep my hair, but knew there was almost an 100% chance I would lose all my hair.

Last April, I was a completely normal college junior. I had just returned back from spring break in the Caribbean with my friends and was just a week away from celebrating my 21st birthday! Everything was so good before I was told I had cancer. Hearing those words, it felt like my entire world came crashing down, completely upside down. One of my first thoughts were “I’m going to have to do chemo and I'm going to lose my hair.”

I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, Stage 2 in September 2021 when I was just 17 years old. My doctor informed me about Paxman and scalp cooling when I was diagnosed and I decided to give it a go.