As some of you know, and will now know, at the beginning of February, I was diagnosed with Aggressive B Cell Lymphoma cancer.

The word cancer has to be one of the scariest words in the human language, wouldn’t you agree?… it still doesn’t feel real, it feels like I’m watching what’s happening to me from a fogged up window.

I went from totally ‘normal’ to getting a cancer diagnosis, a quick action plan, chemo ‘port’ installed in my chest, developing pneumonia and being hospitalized, to my first infusion…. It was quite the month of February 2025. Definitely not the way I anticipated kicking off 2025.

The path to diagnosis

I’ll give you a brief summary of how I came to my diagnosis, in hopes you can also be vigilant with your body. Luckily I felt it early via some strange aches and pains and a swollen lymph node in my groin area, I am in the early stage.

Over the summer my hips and pelvis area were just aching. More than my usual hip pain. It was a dull constant ache. And couldn’t be solved by walking, stretching or warm baths. My sister Kathleen suggested I get a gravity chair to relieve the pressure in that area. So I bought one and set it up on the patio outside of my room. As I leaned back in it, I started touching the area of my pelvis where I felt the pain. It was then that I put my hand on a small acorn sized lump in the crease of my leg and pelvic region, my groin. Julian was in the bedroom (my husband, who is a nurse) and I asked him to come out and feel it. “Feels like a swollen lymph node, let’s get you an appointment to get that checked out” he said.

At first my general practitioner suggested it was due to athletes foot I developed from hiking in my summer sandals, and expected the lymph node to reduce swelling when the athletes foot cleared in the winter months.

But neither cleared.

So after an ultra sound of the area to measure a now golf ball sized mass in my groin area, in I went for a biopsy. I honestly thought it was due to athletes foot and I would be given an antibiotic to clear up the infection.

Thursday, February 6th, my dad called and said he would be by for lunch. I knew the results would be in any day, and so did he. Dad always has a sixth sense when his daughters will need him most.

I took my normal morning meetings and happened to be on a call with my close colleague and friend Jenny Nelson, when the words “Aggressive Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma” hit my MyChart medical app with a chime and text, New Test Result.

I remember reading the results out loud to Jenny and she grabbed a pen to write down what I was saying, asking me to spell it out. I knew what lymphoma was. “It’s cancer” I said.

I took a screen shot and sent it to Julian, who rushed home from work and got us an appointment immediately to speak to our general practitioner. Dad arrived and I remember coming down the stairs and standing there and saying “I got the results and it’s cancer” “no it isn’t he said, let’s wait until you talk to someone”

We went to a nearby restaurant to wait for Julian to arrive and the test results from the pathology department continued to come in.

“Stage” appointment and plan of action set into motion

Our general practitioner advised us to see an oncology team immediately to get started with care that same day. The word Aggressive in this type of cancer is real, it is a fast moving blood cancer in the lymphatic system and can quickly get around to other organs. We chose a complete cancer team at Fred Hutch Cancer Center of Seattle.

While I researched the best care, nutrition and strategies to fight the type of cancer I have. I kept thinking of the brand campaign I helped launch and promote for Agilent about closing in on cancer through the advancements of great science. I visited the landing page and re-read about applications using our xCELLigence system. Making me so proud. I had a sense of relief. The more I read, the more confident I felt that this type of cancer now had a 90% remission rate and patients stayed cancer free. That had just shifted dramatically in just the last 5 years due to targeted therapies.

The Fred Hutch team called on Friday to start aligning a PET scan, blood draws, bone biopsy tests to start the following Monday and asked if I would be ready to get a chemo port installed into my chest as early as mid week.

The PET scan was the most challenging test. Luckily the day before I did some visualization exercises with my Tempo in the garage. Yogi Jeremy had me visualize for 30 minutes my perfect day. I was able to use that, as I was stuffed into a scanning tube for 25 minutes. I admit I almost lost it a few times. But I kept reminding myself I was safe. To find cancer in my body I got an hour infusion of glucose. The glucose rushes to the cancer cells and lights up the scan. That just is proof that cancer loves sugar.

The day I met the oncologist to get the results of the PET scan and the stage my cancer was at, it snowed. We picked up Jonathan our son who lives near by attending the University of Washington. He wanted to be there for his mamma. I snapped this shot as we waited for my appointment.

We were called and Dr. Paul Martin, our Oncologist, gave us the best news we could have hoped for. The cancer was at stage 1, but still scored high on aggressiveness and needed the full onslaught of R-CHOP chemotherapy treatment.

What is R-CHOP?

R-CHOP is a cancer treatment regimen that uses a combination of five drugs to treat non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Treatment includes three chemotherapy drugs, a targeted therapy drug and a corticosteroid (steroid).

My beautiful sister, Shanon, arrived shortly after those initial appointments. One of the first she went to with me was to get the pneumonia and Hepatitis B vaccines before the chemo port was installed and infusions began the next week. She also helped me by going with me to cut my long hair really short, because with R-CHOP I will loose my hair shortly after starting the infusions.

Port installation and pneumonia hospitalization

The night before the port was installed was surreal. It was Tuesday night and I spent the day preparing my team at Agilent for my medical leave, which was good, I didn’t have time to overthink the port procedure.

I met with my team members with a presentation I created of programs that would need to be modified to fit my time off for chemotherapy treatments.

It was that night when things calmed down for me mentally, and when I fully understood it would be the last hours my body, my chest, myself would be the way it was now.

The port installation procedure was a ‘routine’ procedure. When the doctor said that I responded with “routine for you!” installing something into my heart was not “routine” for me.

After the port was installed I felt okay. Good enough to be hungry from being on an all day fast. We picked up Jonathan and headed to my favorite taco place, Agua Verde, on the water near UW.

That night I started having trouble breathing, stayed up all night in a cold sweat and fell asleep sitting up in a chair. The port area hurt so badly to move once the anesthesia wore off. My whole body hurt. I couldn’t sit up, or lay down. Something wasn’t right…and I was right…

On Thursday morning when I still couldn’t move properly or talk without being out of breath, Julian came home from work and took me to the Fred Hutch ER. Unable to maintain a normal oxygen level and have a normal heart rate, I was hospitalized with the flu and pneumonia.

The weekend I was hospitalized was Julian and my 21st wedding anniversary. We had to cancel our AirBnB on Vashon Island.

First infusion experience

The Fred Hutch team decided to wait a week after I was hospitalized to begin my first R-CHOP infusion. My body still needed to fight off the flu and pneumonia. So on Friday, February 28th I received my first chemotherapy infusion.

It was a 4 to 6 hour slow drip through my chemo port. The nurses cycle through measuring vitals every hour and documenting the drugs being delivered. They are young, friendly, and have good energy. I wore a special shirt that my step mamma Erica bought me. I packed an overnight bag that contained a warm blanket to cover me, my book Circe I’m reading, a notebook, watercolors, mixed media art book with heavy Bristol board for art creation, a change of clothes, makeup wipes, my toothbrush, and slip on shoes.

Dad, Erica, and Julian sat by my side all day. Julian with his careful eye on my vital signs. We watched movies, You’ve Got Mail, and the Greatest Showman, Ironman. I read and painted a gnome. Outside the window of the infusion room the staff put gnomes on the rocks and that is their ‘unit’ mascot. Seemed like a good subject for a Thank You card cover. So I painted with the intention of making it into a card to send to all the amazing people who have given me so many gifts and care packages to see me through my journey.

Jonathan came for the last hours, sitting at my feet, with his hair pulled into a ‘man-bun’ looking oh so handsome.

Days after 1st chemotherapy infusion

The first days after chemotherapy I had energy. Planting tomatoes outside and going on long walks. The steroid Prednisone is taken every morning for 3 days. I’m now in the days after the steroids and am feeling the effects of the cells dying and the drugs doing their thing.

Water is starting to taste thick. My mouth and throat burn a bit inside when eating or drinking. Hot and cold foods feel numb. My overall disposition is calm and quiet. My body feels heavy. Like my arms and legs weigh 500 pounds. It feels foggy, like I’m extremely hung over.

Because cancer loves sugar and I am trying to starve and kill cancer my diet has shifted to mostly vegan. I met with a cancer nutritionist that is part of my care team and they recommended 70grams of protein from plant based foods. And to stop all supplements except Vitamin D and only eat my nutrients.

Im watching movies that are magical fantasy, musicals, Disney animations, and nature documentaries. I want to paint and do yoga for short periods. Check out some of my other activities and food over the days following my first infusion.