Marly Garnreiter, 27, initially dismissed her symptoms—night sweats, fatigue, and weight loss—as anxiety and grief after her father’s death in January 2024. “I’d accepted you lose weight with grief,” she said. But by Christmas, she felt something was wrong. “I had a constant pain in my chest. I was tired all the time.”

In May, she asked ChatGPT about her symptoms and saw a concerning result: blood cancer. “I ignored it. We were all skeptical,” she admitted. As her symptoms worsened, she revisited her doctor in January 2025. A scan revealed a “big mass” on her left lung, and a biopsy confirmed Hodgkin’s lymphoma on February 10.

Marly struggled with the diagnosis. “I felt a lot of anger. I felt like everything was unfair. I didn’t want my family to go through this one more time.” However, she remained hopeful, undergoing an egg retrieval before starting chemotherapy on March 1.

Reflecting on her journey, she emphasized the importance of self-awareness. “Sometimes we tend to lose our connection with our inner self. It’s important to be in tune.” She now faces four to six cycles of chemotherapy with confidence in the future.