Who am I?
I'm Karen, a five-time cancer survivor. I was originally diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) in August 2004 when I was 10 years old. I had the standard 2.5 years of treatment at Hopkins with very few complications. After my freshman year at Drexel University, I found out my leukemia was back. After a few months of chemo, I received a bone marrow transplant from my little sister in December 2013. All was well until my 6 month bone marrow aspiration, which showed my disease was back again. I went on to a CAR T-cell trial at CHOP in 2014 and was in remission for a year. I relapsed again in September 2015 and went to NIH for a different T-cell trial at NIH. Six months later, I relapsed again. I returned to Hopkins and received a second bone marrow transplant in August 2016.
At Drexel, I'm in an accelerated BS/MS program for Science Communication with a minor in Bioscience and Society. I've taken a variety of communication, biology, and public health courses. If you're interested, you can check out my portfolio. About half of my coursework has been completed online while I was home for treatment, but I've also been involved on campus. I've worked as a copy editor for The Triangle, Drexel's independent student newspaper, and served on the executive board for Gamma Sigma Sigma, a national service sorority. In my free time, I love to volunteer. I am on the planning committee for Camp Sunrise and SunSibs, camps for children with cancer and their siblings. I also love traveling and spending time outside.
At Drexel, I'm in an accelerated BS/MS program for Science Communication with a minor in Bioscience and Society. I've taken a variety of communication, biology, and public health courses. If you're interested, you can check out my portfolio. About half of my coursework has been completed online while I was home for treatment, but I've also been involved on campus. I've worked as a copy editor for The Triangle, Drexel's independent student newspaper, and served on the executive board for Gamma Sigma Sigma, a national service sorority. In my free time, I love to volunteer. I am on the planning committee for Camp Sunrise and SunSibs, camps for children with cancer and their siblings. I also love traveling and spending time outside.
Why is my blog called The Worst Best Thing?
After I had cancer the first time, I couldn’t imagine life without that experience. I learned some invaluable lessons that I don’t know if I ever would have learned without it and met some people who have changed my life. I started going to Camp Sunrise, where I met lots of other kids who had cancer and who really understood the whole experience. Even though I only see most of my camp friends once or twice a year, if that, outside of camp, they’re very close friends. I’ve also met quite a few people who have lost their battles with cancer and are a constant reminder that I’m lucky to be alive. I have a much more positive outlook because of my experiences. I appreciate the little things more, and I was lucky enough to be out of school when my sister was born so I got to spend a lot of time with her as an infant. Finally, one thing I’m most thankful for is that being sick showed me who my true friends are. Some friends disappeared because keeping in touch when I wasn’t at school was a lot of effort. Others called me every day to update me on everything that was going on or visited me as often as they could. Nine years later, I am still very close with nearly all of the friends who supported me the first time, and they are by my side again. When I feel terrible or am in the hospital, I feel better if I focus on everything I have to be thankful for so I’ve been taking a lot less for granted. Cancer sucks, and I would never wish it upon anyone, but it taught me more than any other experience or class ever could.