Help Julie Beat Hodgkin Lymphoma

As many of you know, I was diagnosed with stage four Hodgkin lymphoma in April of last year. I had several complications soon after finding out about my condition, such as fluid build up around my heart (to which I had a pericardial window and hospital stay of 6 days) and fluid build up around my lungs (this happened twice; first time required a hospital stay and thoracentesis, and second time was an outpatient thoracentesis.) I took 12 ABVD chemotherapy treatments over the course of 6 months (May '21-October '21), and after a PET scan in July, I was informed that I was in remission. I was so excited to hear this news, and so the bell-ringing ceremony planning began. Unfortunately, I did not have another PET scan scheduled until after my last chemo treatment (in which I would ring the bell), and upon having my last scan, I came to find out that the last scan was abnormal, and there was a good chance that my cancer had returned. This was extremely discouraging, considering the last news I had received was that I was finished with this really tough journey.

My family and I made the decision to visit another doctor who specializes in Hodgkin lymphoma and works for UAB Kirklin Clinic. He scheduled me to have my second biopsy of 2021 which proved that my cancer was refractory. I found out this news 4 days before Christmas. My doctor gave me two options: 1.) he said that I could start off by taking ICE chemo, which is inpatient treatment, and it would cause the usual side effects, such as hair loss, lowered cell counts, extreme fatigue, nausea, etc. 2.) he said that I could try an immune therapy treatment, which he has used on other patients and has seen remarkable results with, and it causes little to no side effects (NOTHING like old-fashioned chemo). Though there is no guarantee that the immune therapy will be super effective, and there is a small chance I might still have to do ICE chemo depending on the results, I chose to try immune therapy first. This is a time of experimentation in the world for all types of illnesses, and I am proud to say that I can be of help to the specialists who are observing. I also signed up to have extra vials of blood drawn so that it can be used to find out more information on blood cancers. No matter which option I would have chosen, I will be having a stem cell transplant following the treatments. This is a very extensive procedure in which the blood in my body will basically be deep-cleaned. It will have me in the hospital for a minimum of a month living in a sterile bubble as my immune system has to rebuild itself. The good news is that the transplant should cure me; the bad news is that it will very likely leave me infertile. I have met with a reproductive endocrinologist at UAB, and we discussed cryopreservation of my eggs, which will most likely be done in between finishing treatment and starting my stem cell transplant. To have my eggs cryopreserved, I will have to give myself daily injections, I will have to drive to UAB every two days for two weeks to have ultrasounds of my eggs done, and at the end of the two weeks, I will actually have the egg banking procedure.

I do not like to ask for help, but many friends have personally contacted me and asked how they can be of support. I have included my mother's Venmo username at the bottom of this post. I have realized that this whole year is going to be very mentally and financially taxing on my family and me. My mother is using FMLA to be at home with me while I am sick and frequently going to UAB for appointments, and my father is working, so we are currently living on one income, and we are a family of five. The drive to UAB is expensive, as it usually takes an hour or longer to arrive. The egg banking procedure costs nearly $10,000, and insurance covers nothing. I am thankful that there are grants available for the egg banking; however, even if I am approved for the grants, we will owe approximately $2,500 out of pocket. The stem cell transplant has to be approved by my insurance, and if it is, insurance should cover 80% of expenses. The other 20% will be paid out of pocket, and it will be approximately $100,000. Many thanks to everyone who has followed me, prayed for me, and helped me throughout my journey. I'm not quite finished, but I am confident that 2022 will be my year.