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Lauren's Symptoms
September 5, 2008 |
A few years ago Lauren Barraco was enjoying the life of an average college
student. “When I graduated high school I went to Edison for two years and then I
moved to Tampa to go to USF with my best friend. I was kind of lost. I was just
taking classes, you know, whatever sounded fun.”
While at the University of South Florida, Lauren noticed a lump near her
collarbone. “You don’t think cancer so I just kept putting it off. One of my
friends came up to visit me and said, you know you should get that checked out,
it’s kind of weird.” After lots of coaxing from family and friends Lauren
decided to see a physician about the growth.
“They started talking to my parents and I really didn’t know what was going on.”
But within days 20-year-old Lauren was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma. She says
she and her family were shocked by the diagnosis especially since she didn’t
feel sick. “I felt fine, I'm a college student, I sleep a lot. I was tired
anyway so otherwise I was alright.”
But her diagnosis meant that Lauren would have to undergo months of chemotherapy
and radiation. Even though she lived in Tampa she chose to have treatment in Lee
County. “I would drive home on Thursday nights and go in for treatment in Ft.
Myers Friday morning and then drive back on Friday afternoon before I started
getting sick.”
On next Friday’s Health Matters you can find out more about Lauren’s treatment
and see what the student is up to today. It’s estimated that more than
74-thousand Americans will be diagnosed with lymphoma this year. Most of them
will be adolescents or young adults. |
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