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  • My 18 Little Miracles
  • Rijon Charne

On May 9, 2016, I took my last law school final exam. After three grueling years of law school, there were no words to describe how excited I was to graduate and could not wait to celebrate that weekend. However, I had been feeling sick for two weeks and was severely fatigued, but I thought it was the usual exam stress. Just to be safe, I made an appointment with my doctor to ensure I would be well for my law school graduation on May 14, 2016.

What I expected to be a regular doctor's appointment turned out to be a life changing event. I explained my symptoms to my doctor and she performed a physical examination. She noticed an unusual lump above my left clavicle. She appeared concerned and made an immediate appointment with an Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) specialist for the following morning. I arrived at the ENT expecting him to tell me my doctor had overreacted and the lump was nothing to be worried about. Rather, my ENT felt the lump and told me he needed to do an immediate biopsy. I asked him what the urgency was and he said it could be lymphoma. I sat there dumbstruck, trying to process this information. However, I decided I did not want to receive my medical results before my law school graduation because nothing would spoil the weekend I had been looking forward to for three years—not even cancer.

On Saturday, May 14, 2016, I graduated from law school. It was a weekend I will never forget. I was having a joint graduation party with my boyfriend, whom I met in law school, and to my surprise my uncle flew in from South Africa and my best friend flew in from New York. So I decided to keep my doctor's appointment confidential.

The Monday following my graduation, May 16, 2016, I received the worst graduation gift imaginable. At 10:00am, my doctor called to tell me, "You have Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer of the lymph nodes." I remember hearing the diagnosis, dropping to the floor, and crying uncontrollably. I remember thinking, "There must be a mistake. This diagnosis cannot be right. I just graduated from law school and I am 27 years old. How could I have cancer?" But there was no mistake.

A week later, I arrived at one of the best cancer hospitals in the world located in Houston, Texas. My oncologist explained I had Stage 2A Hodgkin's lymphoma. This meant the cancer had spread from my neck to my chest, and had created a 10cm tumor in my chest. He told me the survival rate was 95%. Even with those statistics, my first thought was "Am I going to die?" Everything after that seemed inconsequential. To treat Hodgkin's, I would receive 8 rounds of ABVD chemotherapy followed by 16 radiation treatments. He told me this treatment would induce hair loss, nausea, and fatigue, but he never mentioned infertility. Fortunately, I knew that chemotherapy could affect fertility and when I asked what the statistics were regarding infertility, he told me there was a 20–30% chance of becoming infertile.

I always took for granted that someday I would have my own children, but after I was diagnosed with cancer, I learned not to take anything for granted. When I asked my oncologist if I should freeze my eggs as a precautionary measure, he told me he did not feel it was necessary because the risk of infertility was not high. To me however, freezing my eggs was necessary because even the slightest chance of being unable to have my own children devastated me. He referred me to a reproductive endocrinologist but told me that I needed to start chemotherapy as soon as possible because Hodgkin's lymphoma is a relatively aggressive cancer. If I decided to freeze my eggs, I had one month to do so. [End Page 121]

When I met with my reproductive endocrinologist, Dr. Terri Woodard. I was taken aback by her compassion towards my parents and myself. Her understanding of my infertility fears and her expertise regarding the urgency...

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