Unstoppable Testimonies

Hello! I am Clàudia and I am SUPER UNSTOPPABLE against Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

When I was 24 years old I decided to start my life as an adult and moved to Hamburg. It wasn’t until the following year, in May to be precise, that I started to feel unwell, I had a pain in my chest, in my abdomen, in my jaw, I couldn’t sleep well and I felt tired. I thought that this tiredness was caused by my busy lifestyle, as I studied, worked and sometimes went on trips to discover new places. At the end of June I returned to my city, Granollers, for a few days. I took the opportunity to go to the doctor and explain these symptoms, but they did not give me any diagnosis, so that same day I went to Granollers Hospital, they scheduled some tests and a biopsy and, as it was not urgent, I went back to Hamburg until the date these tests were to be run. Days went by until I got the results, my father knew before I did and they prepared for the news, lymphoma.

I didn’t feel alone, I had the support of my friends and family, especially my father, who years ago also went through the same situation. I had to move back to my parents’ house, leave my job, my friends… My whole life was put on hold.

On 20 August 2014 I had my first of many chemotherapy treatments, I remember that it left me feeling deflated for a couple of days. It wasn’t until the third chemo session that they couldn’t put the catheter in, what a painful experience!

On 23 December 2015 I underwent an autologous bone marrow transplant at the Hospital Clínic in Barcelona. As I did not live in Barcelona, the team of doctors offered me the possibility of recovering in an apartment provided by at the Josep Carreras Foundation for the first three weeks after the autotransplant. Obviously, I accepted the proposal as recovery at home is more favourable and quicker than in a hospital.

Recovery was a slow but steady process and eventually I was able to resume my life. I missed my life, I did a lot of things, but in 2017 I got some bad news… the lymphoma was back. I didn’t expect it, I had to start again from scratch, but one thing that was clear to me was that I wasn’t going to give up, I knew what to expect so I prepared myself.

I had to go through another transplant, the doctors looked to see if my brother and I were a match, we were not a 100% match but he still became my bone marrow donor. The transplant took place on 13 September 2017. For a period of time I was once again in one of the hospitality apartments provided by the Josep Carreras Foundation.

After all this struggle, I am still here, and still SUPER UNSTOPPABLE!

Clàudia