10 Years of Remission!!

In January 2013, I walked into the Valerie Center at Morristown Memorial Hospital to discuss with my family and an impressive team of doctors and integrative medicine providers my treatment for non-hodgkin’s lymphoma. I was 21 years old and missed my flight to Barcelona for my study abroad semester. I was heartbroken and deathly ill. The doctors formulated a plan and we began treatment quickly after that initial visit. My team was amazing, two doctors that stand out being Dr. Halpern and Dr. Fritz. My heroes. I was treated over the course of 5 months. I utilized every service the Valerie Center had to offer. I know I can speak on behalf of my family (and all the others who have gone through this) in saying we were horrified. I was so sick, and so mentally strained, but the Valerie Center social workers saved me. Combined with integrative medicine options, like meditation and reiki, the team built me back up so I could fight this dis-ease with all my power. It is truly hard to put into words how much of a difference they made in my fight. After 5 months of treatment, losing my hair, but more importantly, losing my tumors, I was clear. But my time with the Valerie Center did not end there. I continue to interact with the center on a yearly if not more basis. Their survivorship program is so encompassing and helpful. Their educational liaisons, their outreach groups, and their young adult meet ups are invaluable. I value the time I get to spend each year at my long-term follow ups so much. I am so grateful for the quick responses I get from the Valerie Center team, both now, almost 10 years in remission, and in the past at 5 weeks. In those days I would call my doctors in tears and each and everyone I spoke to would give me real answers, talk me off the ledge and be happy to guide me forward. I am confident they still would do this for me today. In April my daughter turned two years old. She and my husband are some of the best things that have ever happened to me. They are both people I met after my treatment ended. It is easy to say neither of them would have been in my life if I did not walk through the Valerie Center doors years ago. So this year, to honor that journey, I will be walking with my family and raising money for the Valerie Fund. I hope that you will consider donating too so that these centers can continue to provide for young adults all over.