At the end of June, Cara randomly felt a fingertip sized lump in her neck while driving. Feeling scared to get it checked out, she pushed it off but had extreme stress about it and kept wondering what it could be. She finally got it checked out the beginning of August and her doctor thought it was a swollen lymph node. Her doctor ordered an ultrasound in case it didn’t go away in two weeks. Two weeks went by and it was still there, so she got an ultrasound, those results had her worried. 4 more swollen lymph nodes below the one she found and a concern for malignancy. The following Monday, she had bloodwork done that indicated everything was normal. That Friday she had a biopsy done on a lymph node near her clavicle. The following Tuesday, she got her diagnosis. She was diagnosed with Classic Favorable Hodgkins Lymphoma. After a pet scan, an oncology appointment, and a bone marrow biopsy, she was diagnosed with stage 2A Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Even though the bone marrow biopsy was negative, the doctor still feels 6 rounds of chemotherapy is needed (12 sessions 6 months) due to a spot in her back that lit up during the pet scan (they cannot biopsy this area, too risky). Since diagnosed, it’s been nothing but appointments, bloodwork, and procedures. She had a port placed and received her first session of chemo chemo It truly takes a village…many have helped taking her to appointments, making her meals, taking care of her kids and giving her love and support. It has been so awesome to see people step up for her. This has been the scariest time of her life but she is ready to fight and is in great spirits. Many of you reached out asking how you can help, with a reduction of work hours and the expenses of fighting cancer we are looking for assistance to help relieve some financial burden. We are also looking for donations of meals or gift cards for the challenging days of chemo. Please contact Lisa Swaminathan if you are able to help with this