Coronado senior determined to walk the stage after being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - “We like the environment, the schools and everything. I work here as well and it’s been good, until now. Then we have this situation going on.”

Estela and her family moved to Lubbock from California roughly 10 years ago. Estela’s daughter, Briana, says spending time with them is very important to her.

“We do have a lot of family events, so I’ll be here, I’ll be at my uncle’s house, stuff like that,” Briana said. “We just like to be around our family.”

Briana is currently a senior at Coronado high school. She enjoys theater class and is working toward becoming a veterinary technician, as she’s set to take classes at South Plains College in the Fall.

However, a roadblock has been presented to Briana and her family. Estela says late last year, Briana would come home from work extremely tired. Things got worse when Briana started to notice her lymph nodes were swelling on her jaw line, on her neck, and underneath her arm.

“The one under my arm, when I noticed it, it was kind of hard to sleep on it,” Briana said, “so that’s when I went and told my mom.”

Trips to the ER and blood work followed, with a doctor recommending them to the UMC Cancer Center. On February 15th, it was discovered the lymph nodes were cancerous.

“I don’t want it to be cancer cause like it’s gonna ruin my high school life,” Briana said. “Stuff like that it’s just, the nerve wracks of it. Now we know what it is. Now I can push through, fight for it and get over with it cause I do want to finish high school. I want to walk the stage not knowing I have this on me or go to prom and not knowing that I have this on me.”

With graduation less than three months away, Briana will soon undergo chemotherapy and radiation. Through it all, she continues to fight.

“She’s always been there for me whenever I needed her. She’s young and she took the responsibility of helping me with her little sister,” Estela said. “She’s a great student, she’s a great daughter, a great big sister. She’s an awesome kid.”

“I just want to finish high school and get into college and make sure it happens ‘cause being a vet has been my thing since third grade,” Briana said, “and I don’t want this to just end it. I don’t want it to just end now.”

If you would like to help Briana and her family during this time, you can donate to this GoFundMe.