Lymphoma Barbie

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Freezing Hope: Navigating Fertility Treatment Before/After Cancer

by Jess / January 30, 2025

Navigating fertility while facing a cancer diagnosis is scary—really damn scary. Having cancer is something that no one ever prepares you for in life. But you know what you’re also never prepared for in life? A doctor telling you that your fertility may be affected by your cancer treatment, which is essentially saving your life. I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma at age 28 in the ICU of a subpar hospital, with subpar doctors, and given a grim…

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Life after Cancer Uncategorized

I’m back! Did you miss me? Because I missed you.

by Jess / November 28, 2024

It’s been five years since my last post—but I’m back, and better than ever! My absence wasn’t because I stopped caring about this amazing community. Unfortunately, it was due to someone else’s actions. Ironically, the person who originally helped me create this blog ended up hacking it and erasing every single post I’d written. All of my trials, tribulations, tears, and raw thoughts during and after chemo…gone. Imagine losing everything you poured your heart into during one of the hardest times of…

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It’s OK to Leave People Behind

by admin / December 18, 2019

Your entire life can change in the blink of an eye. This is something that most of us are far too familiar with. It’s uncanny and when your life changes so quickly, you inevitably change too. Your priorities shift, your values shift, your cares shift. I don’t wish what I went through on my worst enemy, but I wouldn’t change what I went through for anything, because it shaped me into who I am today. And that’s a person that…

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FINESSE YOUR WAY THROUGH THE CANCER CENTER

by admin / July 22, 2019

Most of our cancer centers and hospitals are shit shows. Let’s be honest here. They are usually complete clusters. Our lives during and post treatment are also shit shows, so fasten your seatbelt and welcome to the shit show. Here are a few tips & tricks from an OG cancer patient that knows the ropes, so get your pen out and take notes! Triage Nurse Line. One of the most important things that I can emphasize is to have the…

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Dating after Cancer Part Deux

by admin / February 17, 2019

I’m back and as transparent as ever with one of the most non transparent subjects ever…dating after cancer. As you all know, I’m a huge advocate of dating during treatment and a firm believer that everyone comes into your life for a reason, for a season, and serves an indefinite purpose. (Did I seriously just write that? Hashtag vomit) We all hold on to that image of a fairy tale in hope that it’s actually possible, that happy ending. When you’re dating someone during treatment, they see you at your…

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Wig 101 for Beginners

by admin / January 26, 2019

Hi! It’s Jess and Cristie, and we are your (ex) Lymphoma wig connoisseurs. We both went through treatment for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and spent our days messaging each other photos of our wigs, Pinterest wig inspo, and of course..our hair growth. Since sharing is caring, we figured we would share the wig hack wealth, so here are our tips! Not to toot our own horns, but we did have some bomb wigs, so let’s do this. Make sure you get a…

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Post Chemo Hair Growth!

by admin / January 1, 2019

Alright ladies & gents. It’s the post that we’ve all been waiting for. Let’s talk post chemo hair growth. So, I lost my hair during my battle with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma not once, but twice. The first time I lost it was two weeks after my first chemotherapy for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. It grew back beautiful and straight af, but then I lost it again when I started up more chemo after Radiation, cause you know, Hodgkin’s Lymphoma is like the best…

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Alopecia Cancer Chemotherapy Fuck Cancer Hair Loss Hodgkin's Lymphoma Lymphoma Uncategorized

Be Happy in Real Life: What Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Taught Me

by admin / November 29, 2018

It was all a dream, a social media dream. When I went public with my Hodgkin’s Lymphoma story, it was early 2016. I don’t think I even knew how to fully use Instagram. Essentially I’ve seen it all. The good, the bad, the ugly. I think social media is great because it helped me get through one of the most difficult periods of my life and connected me with some of the best friends I’ve met. They all had cancer…

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Alopecia Cancer Fuck Cancer Hodgkin's Lymphoma Lymphoma Uncategorized

Things aren’t always as they seem: The Story of my Cancer Misdiagnosis

by admin / October 29, 2018

Hi. I’m Jess. If you’re reading this, you’ve probably been following my journey for awhile. Everyone always asks me “my story”, because in a healthcare system that is designed to have doctors double book as many patients as possible, often leading to misdiagnoses and even death, I was one of the lucky patients. I was one of the very few that came out alive from the 4th floor ICU at my cancer center. Everyone knows that most people on the…

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Survivor Uncategorized

Establishing Boundaries and Cancer

by admin / July 15, 2018

One of the most hot topics during and post treatment is establishing boundaries. It’s also one of the most difficult topics, because it often takes quite a bit of time post treatment to actually establish them. Let’s be real, it took me a few years. But nonetheless, it’s a huge topic, and on any cancer board, you’ll see so many posts asking what to do when person x did this or did that to person z. I was one of…

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Older Posts

Establishing Boundaries and Cancer

What I wish my physicians learned in med school

A cancer survivor’s life secrets, coming undone like a $2 sweater

30 things Cancer taught me by 30

Post Chemo Hair Growth Tips!

To my cancer fighters, I was you this time last year.

Always be kind.

Handle Scanxiety like a real MVP

No hair don’t care, no hair do care, do you boo boo!

2016 at a glance