At 21 years old, Ms. Jinna Danser, a Functional Academic Learning Support (FALS) teacher at Legacy, didn’t know she would have a year that would change and mold her as a person. She felt a knot in her neck and went to get it checked out. After her first appointment, the doctors sent her away saying that nothing was wrong. A few days later she went back to have bloodwork done, which came back with an elevated white blood count. When she later went in for a PET scan the doctors found that her chest captivity was bulky and swollen. From the results of the multiple tests Ms. Danser went through, the doctors diagnosed her with stage 3B Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

Hodgkin’s Lymphoma affects the body’s lymphatic system, a part of the immune system. The lymphatic cells grow abnormally and make the body work harder to fight off infections. Because of the extensive research on this type of cancer, her type of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma has many effective treatments to ensure a full recovery.

“I was like, ‘I need to get through this,’” Ms. Danser said. “There wasn’t much time for me to sit there or be afraid.”

Within a week from getting the news, she moved back from college to her parents’ house. She went through six months of chemotherapy, and soon after moved back to Texas State University to go through 28 sessions of radiation every day. She didn’t get sick or lose any weight during this process. As a side effect of the treatments Ms. Danser’s taste buds changed, making mozzarella sticks that only food that sounded appetizing to her.

“I still ate, I still had an appetite, but nothing really tasted good except [for] fried cheese sticks,” Ms. Danser said.

The night Ms. Danser received the phone call informing her that she had Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, her father made the two and a half hour drive from Houston to San Marcos to be there for his daughter. They ate dinner and hung out until he drove back to work the next day. Ms. Danser’s mother, Ms. Beverly Bowers, headed to San Marcos when she heard the news. While she was there, the doctors determined what type of cancer she was battling.

“I knew that God would guide us and see us through it all,” Ms. Bowers said.

Ms. Danser’s family supported her throughout all of the treatments and appointments. She never went alone to any treatments during the six months of chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Several of her friends comforted her during her battle, and many of them still stick with her today.

“They were strong for me, because if they broke down or showed their emotions too much then it would make me concerned,” Ms. Danser said.

At the time, Ms. Danser was dating her now husband, Doug. They had been together for a few years and he planned on proposing later in the year, but because of the circumstances, he proposed the week she moved back home for treatments.

“He just wanted to make sure that I knew that we would go through this together and come out of this together,” Ms. Danser said.

While Ms. Danser went through treatments, doctors said her chances of having children on her own were slim. Today, Ms. Danser has been married for nine years and, despite what the doctors thought, they have a 4-year-old boy, Dane. Sept. 28 marked 10 years of being cancer free for Ms. Danser. If she does develop another type of cancer in the future, it won’t be related to Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

“This experience taught me to not take things for granted,” Ms. Danser said. “It taught me what was worth worrying about and what wasn’t — to choose your battles. People say ‘don’t sweat the small stuff,’ and that made me realize some things aren’t big enough to worry about.”