I am proud to announce that I have been nominated by the South Central Texas - Austin Chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) as a candidate in their 2nd annual Students of the Year fundraising challenge. LLS is a non-profit organization whose fundraisers help provide research for blood cancers. LLS offers support for patients, survivors, their families, and helps to advance the science behind other cancers through its research. Unfortunately, there is no early detection for blood cancers, only the search for a cure.

As you may or may not know, I was diagnosed with leukemia when I was 11 years old. Luckily I was in remission after the first four weeks of chemotherapy, but I still continued treatment for the next two and a half years. As you can imagine, the chemotherapy was rigorous and took a physical toll on me. From the day I was diagnosed, I was not able to go outside without a mask for three months because my immune system was so weak. After that I was only able to go outside for about a month before my intense treatment started again. The intense treatment lasted only about a month and a half more, and then I moved on to the much less intense phase that lasted about a year and a half. I completed treatment on May 21, 2014.

Roughly one year later my mom was diagnosed with a brain tumor identified as glioblastoma. She went through treatment more intense than mine, but unfortunately lost her battle on October 21, 2015, just six months after her diagnosis. She was my primary caretaker while I was undergoing treatment, so as you can imagine her loss took a toll on me, as well as everyone who knew her.

Thanks to her support, I was able to cope with my cancer while going through treatment and now I consider it a thing of the past that does not affect my health drastically anymore. That being said, the reason I have decided to take part in this campaign is primarily for my mom. Although glioblastoma is not a blood cancer, blood cancer research is beneficial to all types of cancer. Blood cancer is considered the basis for all other forms of cancer, therefore blood cancer treatments are used as a basis for other forms of cancer. With this in mind, I would like every donor to understand that while the money is going to a blood cancer-specific foundation, all other types of cancer research benefits - including glioblastoma.

The campaign will begin on January 11, 2018 and end with the Grand Finale Celebration on March 2^nd, where Austin’s winning Student of the Year will be announced. Every dollar counts as a “vote” towards my campaign and the Student with the most “votes” will be named the winner.

I would appreciate your help with this cause and I also ask that you give in whatever capacity you feel comfortable with. You can also help raise funds by inviting others to donate and inquiring with your employer about corporate matching programs. Please feel free to reach out to me directly if you would like to attend our campaign-ending Grand Finale Celebration or receive sponsorship information/discuss in-kind donations.

                         Diana Boehm ~ 1994