Emma Operacz was a vibrant Eastern Michigan University student, a semester from graduating with a psychology degree, juggling two jobs and an active social life, when a summer illness upended everything. In June 2024, while at a friend’s graduation in Milwaukee, she felt burning and discomfort she assumed was a urinary tract infection. Over‑the‑counter medicine and a course of antibiotics did not help. Within a week she developed side pain, fever and crushing fatigue that left her bedridden for two weeks.
A CT scan ruled out kidney stones and appendicitis. One night, distraught, she called her sister Sara and told her, “I’m not OK. Something’s not right.” Sara picked her up from their sorority house and the next day a urinary gynecologist noticed swollen lymph nodes in Emma’s groin and sent her to the emergency room. After an ultrasound and pelvic exam, doctors told the family the swelling could be from a pelvic infection—or it could be lymphoma.
Emma knew lymphoma was cancer but didn’t think it applied to a healthy 21‑year‑old. Still, her fever climbed and her heart rate became unstable. After a week in the hospital, a biopsy was performed; before the anesthesia fully wore off, physicians diagnosed Stage IV lymphoma.
Her cancer was identified as T‑cell lymphoma, specifically ALK‑positive anaplastic large cell lymphoma, a subtype more common in younger patients, Dr. Eric Jacobsen, clinical director of adult lymphoma at Dana‑Farber, noted. Emma was stabilized and discharged, but within days she returned in intense pain as her lymph nodes worsened. She was given chemotherapy immediately. Repeated infections, migraines and complications sent her back to the hospital multiple times.
Scans soon showed the cancer had spread to Emma’s central nervous system and brain. Her local hospital could no longer treat her and she was transferred to the Cleveland Clinic on July 12, 2024. As treatments failed and her condition deteriorated, her family watched her waste away. Sara described helping her sister bathe, preparing for the worst and even assisting Emma in signing a will; at one point Sara began planning a funeral.
Dr. Deepa Jagadeesh, Emma’s oncologist, recommended one last option: an experimental use of alectinib, a lung cancer drug that studies suggested could benefit pediatric patients with the same ALK‑positive tumor because it crosses the blood‑brain barrier and can reach disease in the brain and spinal cord. With insurance permission, Jagadeesh started Emma on alectinib on Aug. 20, 2024. Her condition improved quickly. Emma left the hospital to recover at an Airbnb and by September she was in remission.
To reduce the risk of recurrence, Jagadeesh recommended a bone marrow (stem cell) transplant after high‑dose chemotherapy to eradicate residual disease and allow donated stem cells to mount a new immune response. Emma’s older sister Sara was a match and did not hesitate to donate. The transplant took place on Nov. 8, 2024—one day after Emma’s 22nd birthday. Emma then spent about 70 days in Cleveland recovering in isolation while her immune system rebuilt.
The recovery period was emotionally difficult: isolation, distance from friends and the winter months left Emma feeling as if life was on pause. Over time she began to regain strength. She completed the 100‑day transplant milestone, took online classes during recovery, and after isolation ended she took short trips and gradually resumed social life. In December 2025 she finally graduated from Eastern Michigan University.
Emma continues regular follow‑up care; her team notes that relapse risk declines after two years post‑transplant and patients are generally considered cured after five years. Rather than wait for that threshold, Emma enrolled in a graduate social work program in January, saying she wants to work with cancer patients as a way to give back for the support she received.
Sara, who donated the stem cells, reflected on her role: as the eldest and the only match she felt compelled to help. “There was zero doubt in my mind,” she said. For Emma, the experience meant redefining herself: “I was able to say ‘goodbye’ to college Emma. I was able to actually build a new me,” she said, focusing on recovery, school and a future helping others.
