Unstoppable Testimonies

Hello! My name is Esther and I want to share my story with you. In early 2019 I developed a lump in my neck and I was so scared that I didn’t go to the doctor until 11 April. That same day I was admitted to hospital and after a week of tests and blood transfusions, on 1 May, I found out that I had blood cancer, lymphoma to be precise (I had never even heard that word before).

After two weeks of tests and uncertainty, my doctor finally told me that it was stage III-B Hodgkin’s lymphoma. And this is where my struggle began. I was determined to kill that bug. I started treatment on 30 May and it lasted until 31 October.

My body really suffered a great deal, but it held up, I’m a fighter. Throughout the treatment I visualised myself cured and finally the long awaited day arrived: 19 September 2019. Can you imagine the feeling of knowing that there was no trace of the bug in my body? We continued with the treatment just to be sure. But, what a happy day! The happiest day of my life.

I shared the entire experience on my social media from the very first moment. I got to be the image of the centre where I had my hair prosthesis done, I used to wear make-up and dance to cheer myself up. During all this time I kept my friends and my boyfriend very close. Feeling good was what I valued most.

Today I have only words of thanks to life, doctors, researchers, nurses, family and all the people I love. Especially my sister and my mother, for being with me during every chemo session. I have been spoilt. Thanks to my boyfriend, for living up to the challenge, seeing as our relationship was quite new at the time. He has been my driving force in this marathon of life.

Thanks also to the Josep Carreras Foundation for always looking after me and encouraging me to fight as an UNSTOPPABLE. If you are reading this and are in a similar situation, you can beat it too.

We are Unstoppable!

Esther