Age: 29

Hometown: Victoria, BC

What was your diagnosis? T-cell lymphoma

What school did you attend? Eastern Shore District High School

What is your career goal? Be in a band

What is your occupation? Off on disabilty

How did you find out you were sick? What led to your diagnosis?

I found out I was sick when I felt lumps, then got a biopsy, and was told I had lymphoma.

What was your age at the time?

I was 27 at the time.

In which hospital were you treated?

I have been treated at the cancer clinic in Victoria, BC.

What were your first thoughts when diagnosed?

When I first found out, I was not too scared untill I found out it was a serious, rare form of lymphoma.

How did your family react?

I saw my dad cry, but the rest of my family really didn’t talk about it.

How did your friends react?

My friends seemed sympathetic; I think i have about 12 hats, ha! As the months passed, I have seen less and less of my friends. I was too sick to leave the house, I basically lived in my bed for seven months. I caught some sort of virus and almost died. I went through six rounds of chemo every 21 days.

What did your treatment consist of?

I’m mentally ill and my doctors didn’t think I could go through chemo and be on psych meds at the same time, but I pulled through.

I had weird side effects: numb hands and feet, my nose hurt all the time, and I was very tired.

What is your current medical status?

When I went into remission, the doctors were very surprised. He looked in the air and said, “I dont know how that happened!” (He joked.) He is using my story as a case study across Canada. He said with my type of cancer, there is a very good chance it will come back. That made me a little bitter.

How is life different for you now?

Emotionally, I’m a wreck, but everyone at church prayed for me and threw me a surprise get well party.

Did you attend any support groups?

I didn’t go to any support groups, but would like to. Not to sure what is availble on the island, but i would really like to talk to people in my shoes. It would be nice to chat to someone with cancer and share feelings.