When Life Takes a Hard Left Turn

As a freshly minted graduate from the University of Hawaii at Manoa with my Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology I was ready to conquer the world. I had finished up my undergraduate career rather successfully if I might say so myself, graduating with Honors after completing an original research project, speaking at a TEDx event, and having interviews at some of the top graduate schools in my field.

That world would soon be turned upside down.

Preparing for a research trip with newly secured support from National Geographic to travel to American Samoa to study coral reef thermal tolerance, I figured it might be wise to see a doctor before I left. The checkup was going well and I was given a clean bill of health until I mentioned I had felt some very small bumps on my neck. The doctor took a look and wasn’t very sure what they were, but decided it would be prudent to have a CAT-scan performed just in case. The scan revealed swollen lymph nodes, which really didn’t say much other than that I probably needed more tests. I was still pushing to be able to head out on my research trip, but the doctor was firm about if I was to leave, she wanted to biopsy the tissue before I left. So just five days before I was scheduled to depart I had a surgery to cut out one of the swollen lymph nodes to perform a biopsy on it. Just a few short days later the pathologist delivered the news: Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Nodular Sclerosis.

For those who are less familiar with all the medical terminology, lymphoma is the most common blood cancer which occurs when cells of the immune system called lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell, grow and multiply uncontrollably. Thus instead of heading to American Samoa on a research adventure, I am now back home in California on a different sort of adventure, starting to see more doctors and hopefully receiving treatment soon.

There are still a handful of unknowns at the moment, e.g. what stage the cancer is at, what exactly the treatment will look like, etc. And while this is certainly a situation that at first glance appears frightening and scary, I am confident it is one which should be approached with courage and faith. I am thankful for the challenges that I have been carried through so far by the Big Guy Upstairs and see the future not as frightening, but more a providing the opportunity to truly learn to trust. This blog is thus intended to serve as a place for updates, prayer requests, and musing throughout this time.

Much Love,
Paul