My name is Bridget Diveley and I had a heart transplant when I was two years old. Most of my friends and family know my story, but I’ve been lucky enough to gain some new friends and family over the years, so I’ll give a little summary. I was born perfectly healthy. When I was 21 months old, a random virus attacked my heart, causing it to become enlarged and unable to pump efficiently. After months of living at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, I ultimately needed a heart transplant to save my life. I left the hospital on my own two feet a mere 8 days after my transplant and I have led a relatively healthy and full life (with very few restrictions) since then. 

Until June 15, 2019...

I woke up that morning with stomach pain. I spent the day in bed and developed a 102 fever later that afternoon. It was the Saturday of dance week. For those of you who don’t know, dance week is a very busy week in June for the Jean Kettell Studio of Dance, where I have been a student since a toddler. It starts with an all day rehearsal, followed a couple days later by a dress rehearsal, followed by 4 days of recitals that are over 3 hours long. Saturday was Day 3 of the recital and I declared the show must go on. I pushed through, sometimes coming off the stage in tears, but I did it!

The next morning, however, my abdominal pain got worse. My parents took me to Patient First where they suspected appendicitis and sent me to the ER at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. Unfortunately, appendicitis it was not.

They discovered a 10 cm mass in my lower abdomen. Which is about the size of a softball. I was admitted to the oncology floor and underwent a series of blood tests, cultures, and scans. The doctors suspected PTLD- Post Transplant Lymphoproliferative Disease. Essentially, a lymphoma due to the anti-rejection medications I have to take to prevent my body from rejecting my transplanted heart. It is a rare side effect- affecting about 10% of transplant patients.

However, they needed a biopsy for an official diagnosis. A PET Scan showed that the disease was confined to the mass in my pelvis. They had expected the PET scan to show multiple areas of activity, such as lymph nodes in my neck/armpits/groin as that is the nature of the disease. They had hoped to be able to easily biopsy one of these easily accessible nodes, but instead they’d have to do surgery to biopsy my pelvic mass. The fact that there weren’t multiple areas of involvement on the PET Scan was one thing that puzzled the doctors. This was not a usual presentation of PTLD. Also, there were other questionable results. My Epstein Barr Viral Load was negative, and my LDH was normal. Both of these are usually very elevated. Additionally, most patients who develop PTLD are only 1-2 years out from their transplant, whereas I was over 9 years post-transplant. While these things didn’t rule out PTLD, it did make the doctors question the diagnosis. Throughout all of this I really had no idea what was going on and just left it to my doctors. 

They did laparoscopic surgery on June 19^th, to remove some tissue from the mass. My parents told me when the surgeon approached them in the waiting room after surgery, their hopes dropped. You could almost see the defeat in his eyes. The mass was nothing like he had seen before, and certainly not in someone as young as me. The mass was wrapped around my entire cecum (part of my large intestine). We now needed to wait for pathology for answers. Once again throughout this whole time frame I was completely clueless.

Unfortunately, it would take 5-7 business days for the pathology to come back. They wanted to do a bunch of special stains, some of which were multiday processes, so they knew exactly what we were dealing with. So, I was discharged home to wait. 

On June 26^th, I returned to the oncology clinic to learn the diagnosis. I had Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma, most likely due to the years of being on the immunosuppression meds from my heart transplant. I remember just being so angry I mean I had already had a heart transplant and now seriously cancer. Why was I so unlucky!! Of course the first thing that crossed my mind was if I was going to lose my hair(yes) and if I could still dance in the upcoming fall.

 So from there my summer where i'd hope to be hanging out with my friends right before I started middle school turned into months of vigrous chemo therapy. I was surronded by love and support from my friends, family and community . I am forever thankful for that as it was a driving factor for me that kept me fighting. Fortunatley about 4 years ago scans have shown that I am cancer free.  With going through all of this I understand why it's so important to give back which is why I am so excited to be apart of such an amazing campaign. LLS never fails to amaze me by the wonderful impact they have made to cancer research and I am honored to support this wonderful cause.

Visionaries look to the future—and see infinite possibility.
They challenge the status quo—and make the impossible possible.
They boldly imagine a better world – and lead the charge to create it.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society was built on that same vision - of a better world - one without blood cancers.

I am a visionary; I have a vision for a world without cancer, but I need your help.

This year, I’m proud to be a part of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Student Visionaries of the Year Campaign, working to raise as much as possible for LLS’s mission.

As a global leader in the fight against blood cancer, LLS:

• Funds cutting-edge research leading to breakthroughs in immunotherapy, genomics and personalized medicine that are improving and saving the lives of patients
• Provides free education and support for blood cancer patients and families, including personalized, one-on-one support, assistance with identifying and enrolling in clinical trials, and more.
• Mobilizes thousands of advocates to drive policy changes that accelerate the development of new cancer treatments and break down barriers to care.

Please consider joining this fight by making a donation. All donations are greatly appreciated and tax-deductible. Please visit my website often and tell friends who would also like to donate!

Thanks to your support, my efforts will help ensure this generation is the last to see cancer.

On behalf of blood cancer patients everywhere, thank you!

For more information about LLS, please visit www.lls.org.