LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Cancer is never something anyone wants to be diagnosed with, but unfortunately, it's touched nearly all of our lives in one way or another.
September is National Lymphoma Awareness Month, and one Arkansan is sharing his journey from diagnosis to remission.
"It was surreal," Autry Clayton said. "Having cancer, one, and stage 4 cancer at that... it was a pretty tough blow."
Clayton said leading up to the diagnosis he was having trouble sleeping with night sweats. He would also experience cold spells.
Then, he noticed a lump on his throat.
"The word cancer, the diagnosis of cancer, is threatening, and some people think it's a death sentence," said Dr. Muthu Kumaran with UAMS.
Hodgkin's lymphoma targets the lymph nodes in the body, like the neck or armpits.
Typically, people between the ages of 20-30 and then the 50 and older population can be diagnosed with this cancer.
Clayton, who is 28 years old, was diagnosed with late-stage Hodgkin's lymphoma in January.
It's a diagnosis that Dr. Kumaran said comes with an 85% survival rate.
Now, in the same room where he was told he had cancer, Clayton saw his doctor again, having made it to the other side cancer-free.
"Finding out, going through it, and being on this side... I'm happy some days," Clayton said. "Then, some days, it's like thinking back on the whole process and the whole journey... you get really mindful of it."
On the last day of treatment, Clayton was able to put a seed token in UAMS' Seed of Hope sculpture as a celebration of the future and hope for others going through a similar journey.
"Seeing myself in the mirror every day and knowing what I've been through and the progress I've made thus far helps keep me going," Clayton said.
Some other common symptoms of Hodgkin's lymphoma are swelling of the lymph nodes, fever and unexplained weight loss.