Three-time cancer survivor defies all odds

Noemi has been strong-willed from a young age. She moved out of her parent's house when she was 16 years old, raised her daughter, worked two jobs all while graduating from high school and college with high honors. 

“I never wanted my daughter to be able to look at me and say I was lazy and made excuses. I wanted her to have a good life and I wanted to break the cycle within my own family of not taking accountability for your life and reaching your highest potential,” Noemi said about her battles as a young adult dealing with cancer. 

The first time she was diagnosed with leukemia was when she was just 25. And she said she remembered that day vividly, she collapsed in her kitchen and didn’t believe she was going to make it. 

She underwent 36 sessions of radiation over 36 days. Yet she still woke up early every morning, caught the metro to her job in Washington D.C., and worked at the Public Information Office as a Capitol Police officer. 

Noemi kept up with this routine despite having pain for 6 months after undergoing radiation and continued on with her life as normal. She was in remission. 

But unfortunately, this was not permanent- after 12 years her leukemia relapsed. Noemi caught a sinus infection at work and came home feeling extremely dizzy. 

They couldn’t take her to the emergency room right away because there was a snowstorm. When she finally got there, she had no platelets in her body and no white blood cells. The doctors told her they had no idea how she was alive. 

Noemi had to medically retire from her job with the Capitol Police, but she says her experience with her leukemia this time around was not as difficult- but amazing. 

“Now I know that’s a weird choice of words to describe cancer as being amazing, but it brought everyone from my job together,” Noemi recalls. “They organized a GoFundMe that I had no knowledge of, and Capitol Hill Officers raised $15,000 in 5 days; they auctioned pizza nights with officers and even donated their paid time off so I wouldn’t miss a single paycheck for nine months.”

While she was in the hospital for a few months the officers would take shifts to visit Noemi from March-December of that year, so she wasn’t battling her illness alone. 

After getting released from the hospital and beating her leukemia for a second time, Noemi considered herself a fighter. In fact, that was what she has been her whole life. 

Years after her second bout of cancer, Noemi met her now-husband- Kevin. When she met Kevin they both agreed that life was too short and got married within two months of dating. 

Noemi laughs as she recalls her marrying Kevin in Las Vegas. The newlyweds were married in 2017 and went on a cruise and then a concert in D.C. to kick off their marriage. 

Their first year of marriage was very memorable-until Noemi had another seizure. Fearing it was leukemia once again, Kevin rushed Noemi to the emergency room. This was in March of last year, which is when the COVID-19 outbreak had reached America. 

Because of the pandemic, emergency rooms were filled, everyone was scared and Noemi on top of everything was dealing with seizures. In March two days right before her 5-year milestone, the emergency doctor let her know that leukemia had reappeared but this time- in her brain. This time she only had a 5% chance of survival. 

Despite the odds, Kevin and Noemi never lost faith. 

Two years into their marriage and Kevin never left Noemi’s side. He would cook, clean, and advocate for her at all times. He slept in the hospital on a small couch for multiple nights in a row, gave her medications, and even drove for hours from where they lived at the time just so Noemi could see the waves crash at the beach before her appointments. 

When Kevin and Noemi came to the Mayo Clinic and the Gabriel House, they found a bigger community where they wouldn’t be alone. 

“Instead of waking up hours before around 5 am for 8 am appointments, I can wake up later- the convenience and the hospitality of the staff and the general environment are amazing,” Noemi said. “An added bonus is that Kevin does have to drive hours to take me to put my feet in the sand since it is so close by,” she laughed. 

Noemi stayed in our house for 90 days after receiving her second bone marrow transplant- her donor was her daughter. Noemi left our house a few weeks ago but since she is such a high-risk case the doctors from Mayo Clinic are planning on tracking Noemi to see how her healing goes.  

If she had to give any advice to anyone she said, “Just live life, don’t get caught up with concepts like time and money. Travel the world after the COVID-19 pandemic. Have fun and learn things. I always tell my kids to do the same.”