Lauren, Hodgkin Lymphoma Survivor

I wasn’t sure if I would live to celebrate my 24th birthday. When I was told you have cancer, all I remember thinking was, I don’t want to die. I have so much life to live. I collapsed in my mother’s arms. My life was changed forever.

I went through six months of chemotherapy — I lost my hair and my heart. This was a tremendous life hurdle. I was in remission for six months and trained for my first half marathon while fundraising for cancer research.

As I crossed the finish line of the race, I was at the starting line for round two of my battle with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. I had time to freeze my eggs in case I became infertile after treatment.

Twenty-four eggs were collected and put in storage. Twenty-four potential future children that chemo could have taken away. Modern medicine and science gave me the opportunity to have a family with my own eggs one day. While I was struggling with so much, having the logical, rational world of science help me through such an incredibly difficult period was invaluable.

I met and married my husband. After conceiving naturally and experiencing an ectopic pregnancy – we conceived identical twins naturally. My boys are now nearly three years old!