My Story (Part III): The Return of Carmen 2.0

This is the last and third sequel after the My Story (Part I): A New Hope and My Story (Part II): Revenge of the Lymphoma sequels from my Star Wars Cancer Trilogy. The first part of the story , "A New Hope," focuses on my diagnosis along with the introduction of my first line of treatment. The second part of my cancer trilogy describes my unfortunate relapse. It gives an overview of my second line of treatment including an autologous stem cell transplant and radiotherapy. In this part of the story, my cancer came back after the first line of treatment was completed. My own immune system was trying to kill me so we decided to punish it by wiping its existence and replacing it with a new one. This involved more intense treatments in order to bring me to remission for good. And that is why I named this part of my story: "Revenge of Lymphoma." . Together, these previous two sequels bring me to my third and final sequel: "The Return of the Carmen 2.0."

The idea of Carmen 2.0 is the fact that cancer, a life-altering disease does change you as a person in some way or the other. Going through the stem cell transplant is a literal reset where your old immune system has been wiped away and replaced with a brand new one. Most stem cell patients celebrate two birthdays a year. The first birthday being the day they were born on this earth. The second birthday being the day you get your new stem cells; the day of your rebirth, the day you celebrate because you are given a do-over, a second chance of life. The combination of the stem cell transplant and radiotherapy was what brought me to remission.

On September 23rd, 2021 I got my PET-CT scan which came back clear! I was officially cancer-free, baby!!!! This was a historical moment that I will never forget. It was about damn time that I am in remission. After waiting and waiting for more than a year, the time has finally come and I got my life back. I was literally on cloud 9. Despite that I need to constantly learn how to navigate my new normal, I am eternally grateful to be in remission . There is still a lot that I need to learn and perhaps unlearn but I will try my best to embrace the little things, slow myself down and enjoy time with my loved ones. I also hope that I can give a voice to others, so that they know they are not the only one. I am going to continue to push and break stigmas and patterns of thinking around pain and suffering through my personal experience with cancer.