Joanna Abraham | Biomedical Engineering Student | Cancer Survivor

Joanna Abraham | Inspire

Biomedical Engineering Student | Cancer Survivor

I suddenly became a girl filled with disbelief, sadness, and worry, but still had hope in the outcome. Never in my life did I think I would hear these three words that would change the trajectory of my life, but my whole world shifted as the Doctor said, “You have Cancer”. I was always told that the treatment would be really difficult, but what I didn’t know was that I would also be losing a part of myself. After some further testing to ensure that there were no complications in my case, they discovered I had a rare genetic mutation. In turn, this led to the Doctors having no course of plan on how to treat me because there was little to no research on this type of mutation. We decided to get a second opinion from another hospital and were informed that my least favorite option was the only option: a bone marrow transplant.

I fully prepared myself for this possibility, but by the grace of God, my scans all came back clear, and I was officially in remission. He is the reason I was able to return to school and graduate on time, see all my loved ones who kept me in their prayers, and continue to have a love and passion for dance that always gave me strength.

Although my life did not entirely go back to how it was before, I learned so much through this journey and am grateful for the lessons it gave me. If you were to see me now, you wouldn’t see Cancer, you would see a survivor.