Emma Operacz was a busy Eastern Michigan University student, a semester away from 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 developed burning and discomfort she assumed was a urinary tract infection. Over-the-counter remedies and a course of antibiotics made no difference. 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, Emma called her sister Sara and said, “I’m not OK. Something’s not right.” Sara picked her up from their sorority house; the next day a urinary gynecologist noted 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 a pelvic infection—or it could be lymphoma.
Emma knew lymphoma was cancer but didn’t think it could happen to a healthy 21-year-old. Still, her fever rose 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.
Specialists identified the disease as a T-cell lymphoma, specifically ALK-positive anaplastic large cell lymphoma, a subtype seen more often in younger patients, Dr. Eric Jacobsen of Dana-Farber said. Emma was stabilized and discharged, but within days she returned in intense pain as her lymph nodes worsened. She started chemotherapy immediately and faced repeated infections, migraines and other complications that sent her back to the hospital several times.
Scans soon showed the cancer had spread to Emma’s central nervous system and brain. Her local hospital could no longer manage her care, and she was transferred to the Cleveland Clinic on July 12, 2024. As initial treatments failed and her condition declined, her family watched her waste away. Sara described helping Emma bathe, preparing for the worst, and even assisting her sister in signing a will; at one point Sara began planning a funeral.
Dr. Deepa Jagadeesh, Emma’s oncologist, suggested an experimental use of alectinib, a drug approved for lung cancer that studies had suggested might help pediatric patients with ALK-positive tumors because it crosses the blood-brain barrier and can reach disease in the brain and spinal cord. With insurance approval, Jagadeesh started Emma on alectinib on Aug. 20, 2024. Her condition improved rapidly: she left the hospital to recover at an Airbnb and by September she had achieved remission.
To lower the chance of relapse, Jagadeesh recommended high-dose chemotherapy followed by a bone marrow (stem cell) transplant to eliminate residual disease and allow donated stem cells to rebuild a healthy immune system. Emma’s older sister Sara was a match and did not hesitate to donate. The transplant was performed 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 reconstituted.
Recovery was emotionally difficult: isolation, distance from friends and a long winter made it feel as if life were on hold. Gradually she regained strength, passed the 100-day transplant milestone, took online classes during recovery, and after isolation she took short trips and slowly rejoined social life. In December 2025 she finally graduated from Eastern Michigan University.
Emma continues regular follow-up care; her medical team notes that relapse risk falls after two years post-transplant and that patients are generally considered cured after five years. Rather than wait, Emma enrolled in a graduate social work program in January, saying she wants to support cancer patients as a way of giving back for the care she received.
Sara reflected on being the eldest and the only match: “There was zero doubt in my mind,” she said. For Emma, the experience reshaped her identity. “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.