An Iowa woman was surprised to find that the small red dots that appeared on her arm and legs were signs of a very dangerous form of blood cancer.
Helaina Hillyard, 20, of Mediapolis, Iowa, noticed that in November 2021 small, freckle-like red spots appeared around her arms and legs, which grew and spread slowly in a matter of hours.
At first, he thought it was a small sports injury, and went to the hospital for a checkup.
While there, she received the shock of her life, discovering that she had acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a blood cancer that kills about a third of people who suffer from it.
Helaina Hillyard (pictured), 20, suddenly had red spots on her arms and legs last November. Although at first he didn’t think much of it, but he went to the emergency room, and later to the emergency room, after his sister told him to leave.
“He was incredulous,” Hillyard wrote in a first-person report for Newsweek, describing his ordeal in great detail.
“I was told in the emergency room that if I had waited much longer to go to the doctor I could have bled my brain and died.”
Hillyard, whom The Hawk Eye described as a “unique athlete in life” for her incredible game in both volleyball and basketball as a high school student, said she had felt tired for weeks before the points appeared. but he had assigned it to a poor sleep schedule.
Her sister and brother-in-law were visiting to see her play when she first noticed the blows. Although she didn’t think much of it, her sister was very worried.
Early the next morning, her sister took her to an emergency room, where she was rushed to an emergency room for a blood test.
The tests had a low platelet count, and then the doctors were very worried.
“When the doctor came back, he asked me about my various symptoms, including whether my gums had bled,” Hillyard recalled.
“I explained that they had bled when he was flossing and at that moment, his face fell completely. I think he knew that was a sign that it was a type of cancer.”
She was then rushed to a nearby oncology hospital and ended the night with an ALL diagnosis.
The American Cancer Society reports that about 6,600 cases of ALL are diagnosed each year, with more than 1,500 deaths.
Children under the age of five are at the highest risk of developing cancer, with the risk of being diagnosed flattening in the middle of a person’s 20s. The risk of cancer increases again after the age of 50.
“He was incredulous,” Hillyard continued.
“I’m glad my sister was there with me, because I can’t imagine receiving this diagnosis and not having a support system. I was told in the emergency room that if I had waited much longer to go to the doctor I could have bled my brain and die me.
Hillyard (pictured) is expected to spend two-and-a-half years undergoing chemotherapy to treat his leukemia
He later returned to Iowa for treatment, where he is expected to receive two and a half years of treatment, including five stages of chemotherapy that will last 40 weeks combined.
Hillyard says she stays positive despite the many side effects she suffers from, such as hair loss, mouth sores, dry skin, headaches and fatigue.
She hopes her condition has improved enough to return to college this fall.
“She does her best to be positive most of the time, but I’m really blessed to have such a great family,” she said.
“I live in my parents’ house and they’re amazing. I don’t know how I would get out of this without them and my sisters and friends. I think it helps my mental health to talk about it, not just move on.
“Every time I feel good, someone is watching me. I definitely couldn’t do it without a support system. I feel like God has been with me every step of the way.”