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Patient Story |
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JOAN Loretta FABIAN SAN ANTONIO, TX United States female Living with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma for 11 years, 7 months Age: 48 In 1998, I started to experience extreme leg pain. I was athletic, so I didn't really think too much about it, except that it started to wake me up at night. I had an MRI and they located a tumor in the bone of my femur. A biopsy confirmed that it was non-Hodgkin lymphoma. I couldn't walk after the biopsy. The pain was the worst, as the tumor was growing within the femur. My doctor recommended CHOP. I had three rounds of chemotherapy and then five weeks of radiation. My hair fell out and I was nauseated a lot. But it was better than the pain that I had been experiencing in my leg. I was frightened and couldn't believe it was happening to me. I had been eating healthy, exercising, and didn't smoke. As a visual artist and college professor, I was burdened by my work during treatments. Fortunately, I was surrounded by people who were sensitive and offered positive encouragement. Many of my colleagues and friends were amazed to see me at work and completing a series of paintings to be shown the following March. My work kept me focused and I was empowered. Strangely, the MRI kept showing a gray mass. Finally, my doctor concluded that it wasn't the tumor anymore, it was my own body¡¯s way of filling in the space where the tumor had been. The tumor was gone and I was pain free. I still experience pain now and then, but it is nothing like the feeling of that tumor in my leg. My husband, John, was the greatest. He gave me the love and support I couldn't find within myself. He believed in me. That is so special. He kept telling me to visualize the positive, even when it looked like the tumor wasn't going away. Now I believe in miracles. When I was going through my treatment, I was falling into a depression because I had been awarded a scholarship that I was unable to take on account of my illness. I could not defer it, but applied again the following year. Even though the competition was stiff, I got it! My doctor gave me permission to go and teach art at the National College of Art in Lahore, Pakistan. My experience there was indeed a miracle. I was so glad to be alive, walking again, and teaching students in a far-off and exotic land. Such a rich time of my life it was. I have learned a very valuable thing- anything is possible when you believe and are surrounded by positive and loving people. Miracles happen. |
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