Morgan Zwicker

Stage IVB at 29 Years Old

"Looks like you have lymphoma", were the words from my family doctor in July 2025 - the beginning of what I couldn't imagine would become the most difficult year of my life as I turned the page from 29 to 30 years old. I didn't even know what lymphoma was - does this mean something is wrong with my lymph nodes? Maybe it's something to do with my blood, but it can't be cancer, right? After a brief explanation, I left the exam room still not sure what to think or feel, and this took weeks to truly sink in. 

As a 29 year old who has always been healthy, active, and diet-conscious, the idea of a life altering diagnosis was never on my radar. I was, and still am, a true busy-body - owning and operating real estate businesses and frequently working 60+ hour weeks. We had our wedding planned in the Bahamas a few months after my diagnosis, and were soon starting plans to build a new home. All of this seemed to turn itself upside down when I realized the severity of the situation and the challenges I was about to face. The world does not seem to slow down in the face of disease for a young person; keeping up with these demands in the middle of a busy career in addition to being a full-time patient became a significant strain.

After the initial shock and the difficult diagnosis stages of PET scans and biopsies, it was determined I had Stage IVB DLBCL, spread across my mediastinum, lungs, liver, and bone marrow. Jumping into chemotherapy and shifting our wedding plans, my business plans and more, I endured the harrowing 4 months leading up to Christmas 2025. As any lymphoma patient, we're told that this is one of the highly curable forms of cancer, where chemo typically works wonders. In my case, chemo wasn't the end of the journey, and learning this was devastating news.

Being an otherwise healthy individual, I qualified for CAR-T in Halifax. I was told that less than 100 patients have been treated with CAR-T at this hospital, which was both terrifying and exciting that I was blessed to have this opportunity. April 2026 I underwent the transplant therapy, and the magical T-cells continued to work until September 2026 at the time of writing this, when I have just found out that the remaining disease is almost undetectable.

Among it all, my wife and I had a wedding (5 people in a restaurant!), got a new puppy, started building our forever home, and I continued operating and growing our businesses. Though sometimes I didn't feel up for it, pushing through despite the challenges and remaining optimistic about the outcomes has been the most important aspect of all of the treatment and healing. The virtual support networks and info sessions accessible online are incredibly helpful, and were an excellent resource!