My name is Chelsea Paone and I am 37 years old. My journey with leukemia started on 11/14/24. I have gone through 9 spinal taps with chemo, 3 rounds of regular chemo, and 2 rounds of immunotherapy (which I keep having bad reactions to), and I need at least one more round consisting of four weeks. I am also on a daily medication to fight the cancer. I have had PICC lines and now currently have a port.

Both of my children asked if they could write about my journey through their eyes. My son, Charlie, is 17 and my daughter, Avery, is 15. They truly are my reason to get up and fight every day, even on the days I don’t feel like it. I also have a partner I’ve been with for 5 years who has helped me through a lot of this, and an amazing bonus daughter, Kinsley.

“Last year my mom was diagnosed with leukemia. At that time, I didn’t know how to take that, and neither did my mom. The hardest thing for me is seeing how my mom got put up for the biggest challenge of her life. She started chemotherapy a couple months after she was diagnosed, and seeing her down and out was extremely painful. Seeing her struggle on the couch after those treatments was heartbreaking, and even though she would be down and out, she would always still find a way to make me and my sister happy. My mom is the bravest and strongest person I’ve ever met. She has been my inspiration since the beginning. My mom has taught me right from wrong, and I don’t know where I’d be without her.” – Charlie

“When my mom first got diagnosed, it felt like everything had paused. It felt like a weight got put on my chest, knowing my mom has to go through something like that after seeing my best friend’s mom already go through it. The journey of seeing her struggle and fight for her life has been so hard. She has fought for her life so hard, and she still isn’t done, but she has done it all for us, for me and my brother. She has made sure to be there for us no matter what. It didn’t matter if she had just gone through chemo or was going through it, she made sure to be there if she could. My life will never go back to how it was, but that’s okay. Because I know no matter what, my mom will always be there for me, and we will always be there for her.” – Avery