BEATRIZ MOLINA ALMAGRO (Villajoyosa, 1991)

Hodgkin’s lymphoma

“I was twenty-one when I was diagnosed with the disease, and twenty-two when I had an autologous transplant; later I needed another transplant, this time from my sister Inma’s bone marrow; during the treatment I had some side effects. In the first transplant I had anxiety, but in the second one I felt calmer; I remember that when I was in hospital, I felt a tremendous desire to go outside, to breathe the fresh air and to see the sea. I always received a lot of support from my parents and my sisters; ASLEUVAL also helped me a lot; and on the medical side, everyone was very good to me, from the haematologists to the nurses, who do a great job and with a lot of love, they are all excellent. When you are in hospital you have to think that this period will pass, what you will do when you get out; you have to have courage and patience, and not focus so much on the illness. Despite six years of non-stop chemotherapy, I am still smiling and eager to move forward, to live. We have to enjoy what we have at every moment. Every day is a gift and I feel very fortunate to see how I feel right now despite not being 100% cured and having gone through so many things without rest. I never lose my optimism”.

JOSÉ T. CERVERA CERVERA (Loriguilla, 1957)

Acute myeloblastic leukaemia

“I was diagnosed in April 2009, received only one chemo treatment, and during that period I had no major complications, nor did I need transfusions. I am very grateful to my family, my doctor and the nurses.

On the sexual side, during the treatment period I was sexually inactive, but… once I was over it, I was back to normal. I was very encouraged by the thought of family. You have to look at things positively, you can get out of this. Now I feel good, I feel like starting to live again.

For me, the experience has been positive, because I have seen that it is possible to overcome the illness and continue with new expectations”.

ANA JAEN (Salamanca)

What promised to be a great day of sales, ended up being the worst day of my life, around four in the afternoon I received a call, it was my doctor, something had gone wrong in my routine analysis, he told me to go down to the hospital and asked me not to go alone, I went with a friend and the first thing they did was repeat the analysis and soon after a lovely doctor told me that I had to be admitted, she added that I was very lucky, that I had leukaemia with a good prognosis.

I couldn’t believe it, I just thought ‘they are making a mistake’ and that’s when it all started. Admission, treatment, side effects, mucositis, vomiting, tiredness, and the worst thing for me, my hair.

Sometimes I look back and I see it as something not real, I find it hard to remember, it was a hard time, although I also got many positive things out of it, you really see who your friends are, you value your time, you learn to relativise things and take advantage of the good times, you also realise that the world goes on without you, that your children can go on without you, that life goes on, even if you stop.

It’s hard, it’s hard, but you get through it, and they say that attitude is very important, that’s how it is. Waking up with the thought that it is one day less of treatment and holding on to the good things of each day, for me it helped me to feel beautiful and so every day I got up, put on my wig and painted my lips and I looked beautiful, thin, combed, painted… I didn’t want my children to see me ugly and above all, I didn’t want them to see me ugly.

It was a long few months but at the end I heard the magic words: ‘complete remission’.

Eight years have passed since then and I still remember when the doctor told me: ‘this will end up being an anecdote in your life’.

FERNANDO J. SANAHUJA FERRER (Valencia, 1975)

Acute myeloblastic leukaemia

“I was diagnosed with the disease in August 2003, and in December 2003 I received a bone marrow transplant from my sister. During the treatment I suffered from pneumonia, and after the transplant I developed GVHD, which is still going strong, but… all manageable.

During that time I was always very positive and very stubborn, I knew that the disease was not going to get the better of me, in fact, I have been a father twice, and I have studied a university career. I feel very grateful to my mother, to ASLEUVAL, and to the hospital staff.
The transplant has given me a new life to discover and enjoy”.

ROSA GARCÉS VILLALONGA (Castellón, 1969)

Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia

“In November 2006 I was diagnosed with the disease, and in March 2007 I received a bone marrow transplant from my brother.

While I was in hospital, it helped me a lot to talk to my people on the phone and, above all, to do cross-stitch: I embroidered for my niece Martina, and this entertainment was my salvation. During the treatment I had a high fever and problems with my gall bladder, I also developed GVHD which affects my skin, but that’s all, I have my little things, but… I think it’s just my age.

I am very grateful to my family, my friends, to the nursing and auxiliary team, and to the doctors who treated me, especially Dr. Jaime Sanz and Dr. Rai García. This was something that had to happen in my life, and thanks to this I have been able to meet the people of ASLEUVAL. You have to have a lot of courage, to think that, although you will have a bad time, you will get out of it; you always have to look on the bright side of things”.

ALBERTO RODRÍGUEZ (Salamanca)

Hodking’s lymphoma

My name is Alberto, I was diagnosed with Hodking’s lymphoma in April 2016 at the age of 35. Until the day I was diagnosed with the disease, I was completely ignorant about blood diseases. So the day I was informed of the disease, it didn’t shock me at all because, due to the total lack of knowledge about these cancers, my reaction mechanism was to ignore the fact that I could suffer from this disease. Everything went very quickly because after several diagnostic tests and the confirmation of this type of Lymphoma, the treatment was immediate, due to the fact that the Lymphoma was very advanced. The discovery that I was suffering from cancer came after a period of six months in traumatology, due to a ruptured shoulder tendon. It was a coincidence because everything indicated that the pain in the brachial plexus and subsequent inflammation of the trapezius would be a consequence of the rupture, but fortunately or unfortunately, you never know, it came from another, more complicated side. Needless to say that at no time, coming from a sportsman, healthy, active person… nobody thought that he could suffer a disease of this type. Unfortunately, no one is safe from this disease.

I’m not going to fool anyone, the first two chemotherapy sessions were very hard, with visits to the emergency room several times due to fevers and general malaise… everything is within the protocols. Little by little everything was normalising, living a normal life and enjoying an intense summer of 2016, until, with only two more chemotherapy sessions to go, I was told that the treatment was not working and that the line to follow had to be changed, i.e. 24-hour chemotherapy and bone marrow transplant. My first response was that I didn’t want to be admitted or face the new line of treatment, but once I was cold, I had to accept whatever came and try to overcome it. The truth is that during this new stage in hospital I did quite well, I met wonderful people, patients, health staff and the ASCOL Association, who gave me so many hours and so much help during those bad times. Luckily today I can tell my experience, thanks to this stage, some say bad others like me good, I have been linked to the health world, something unthinkable if it had been offered to me before being diagnosed with Hodking’s Lymphoma. I would like to thank all the people who make it possible for us to have a second life and, of course, my family who never let me lose hope for a minute.

¡¡¡ALWAYS STRONG!!!