Krystal McGrady (left) with her sister plans to walk in Saturday's South Florida Chapter of the Lymphoma Research Foundation Lymphomathon at Anchor Park, 340 S. Ocean Blvd.
Krystle McGrady, a 17-year-old survivor of Hodgkin lymphoma and lifetime resident of Delray Beach, will be celebrating her first Saturday of spring break and her 18th birthday with a focus on the South Florida Chapter of the Lymphoma Research Foundation.
McGrady, a senior at the Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts in downtown West Palm Beach, will get up early March 28 to register at 7:30 a.m. to participate in the South Florida Chapter of the Lymphoma Research Foundation Lymphomathon from Anchor Park, 340 S. Ocean Blvd. north to George Bush Blvd. on A1A and back to Anchor Park in an effort to raise money and awareness for Hodgkin and Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and blood cancers.
“Two years ago, on my birthday I found a lump on the left side of my neck. I went to the doctor and my lymphnode proved to be swollen in a X-ray,” McGrady said.
McGrady said she didn’t waste time. She researched, worked with doctors, and last October had a ground-breaking medical procedure done to help fight her blood cancer. Although she’s been home-schooled since the procedure, her spirits are up.
“I had a stem cell transplant. Last October, a year ago, they thought they’d killed the cancer. This recent process started with chemotherapy, then doctors removed 3.2 million stem cells from my body, I went back to chemotherapy and then they replaced the 3.2 million stem cells back into my body. The intention was to shock my body,” McGrady said.
She said it was scary, but that she found the process interesting. On Saturday she will walk with more than 200 lymphoma cancer survivors, friends, volunteers and family.