Before Yankee was diagnosed with Castleman disease, she considered herself to be super happy and carefree. But she had a harder and harder time keeping weight on and she felt chronically overtired. In early 2018, she had a high fever and was unable to walk, so she was immediately admitted to the hospital. Shortly after her diagnosis, she was connected to the CDCN and Dr. Frits Van Rhee, who treated her with siltuximab and helped her to get her life back. With her husband and her family at her side, Yankee says she has the support she needs to beat this and to be a Castleman Warrior.
Yankee says that finding the CDCN and the people associated with the organization was a blessing and she thinks it’s important for everyone to advocate for themselves and join the amazing CDCN team. “We share our good days and bad days,” she says. “We support each other, laugh and cry. We are not alone; we are fighting our battles together every day. I have a mission to be strong and to continue to support my Warriors- to live! We might lose some battles, but we will win the war!”
