A college student thought she had a sinus infection. She was diagnosed with a rare, aggressive cancer.
She was tired all the time, her days dotted with shortness of breath and headaches that she'd never had before. Campus doctors told her she had a sinus infection that was likely prolonged from the usual busyness of being a full-time student and sorority member.
Her symptoms progressed. After a campus doctor pushed her to get bloodwork, she learned her levels were "all over the place," Hunter, 22, told Business Insider.
Days later, at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, doctors confirmed that she had acute myeloid leukemia — a rare and more aggressive form of the cancer. Abnormal white blood cells grow at a rapid pace, outnumbering healthy blood cells.
"As soon as we found out, we just could not believe that it was actually happening that I had cancer," Hunter said. "It's a very scary moment, and it almost doesn't feel real."
Rushing to treatment
Once she was diagnosed with leukemia, treatment began immediately. The first round of chemotherapy worked very well — she went from a 95% blast, or percentage of abnormal blood cells, to 7%.
To be considered in remission, a person with acute myeloid leukemia must have 5% or fewer blast cells in their body. Hunter did a second round of chemo, one that was "way harder" than the first.
After that, she went straight into 11 days of radiation therapy on her brain and spine. "It burned my skin really bad," she said. "It took a big toll on my body."
'My 200 square foot mansion'
The treatments took her away from her campus life — the first chemo cycle alone involved a month-long stay at the hospital. To pass the time, she started making TikToks about her cancer experience, including a viral video of her parodying MTV's "Cribs" by giving a tour of her hospital room.
Hunter, who didn't grow up watching the show, got the idea from her sister. They watched clips for the first time before Hunter took to the camera, sharing her makeshift closet and framed photos of her family.
Hunter leaned on her family, boyfriend, and friends during this period of time. "When you're alone, you overthink things and you think the worst of the worst," she said. "I never had that happen, which is amazing."
She also connected with other young people with leukemia, including a former high school classmate she used to cheerlead with.
"I ask how she is almost every day and just see if she needs anything or someone just to talk to," Hunter said. "It is very hard — we are so young and we're missing out on a lot of young adult things."
A successful cell transplant
As of December, Hunter is in remission.
Even so, Hunter needed a stem cell transplant after chemo and radiation to replace her cancer cells with healthy ones. Her brother was a 100% donor match.
The transplant was completed in January and was "definitely the hardest thing I've ever done," Hunter said. In her ongoing recovery, she said she lost a lot of weight and developed mucositis, a common inflammatory condition that can develop after cancer treatment.
Now, she's slowly gaining weight back and hoping to grow out her hair. Hunter's hospital and doctors' visits have gone from daily to once a week.
Hunter, who continued to take online classes so she could recover at home with her family, received her degree in agricultural leadership and development with economics on May 9. She's excited to walk at graduation.
After that, she's going on a vacation with her family — something she hasn't been able to do due to being immunocompromised.
"Just going back to normal and being able to do normal things, I'm really looking forward to," she said.
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