A cancer diagnosis at 28 weeks pregnant should shatter certainty—Emily chose to build something stronger. We sit down with her for a candid, heart-level conversation about B‑cell ALL, the shock of symptoms that didn’t add up, and the long road through treatment and maintenance. She explains the differences between IV, oral, and intrathecal chemo in clear, human terms and shares what sepsis, transfusions, and a surgically placed port actually feel like when they’re not bullet points on a pamphlet.

Faith threads through every scene. Emily traces her early encounter with Jesus back to a camp sermon that made belief personal, then shows how that faith held when her marrow “went silent” and she feared for her baby and her own life. The story of the hemorrhaging woman became a lifeline—a picture of reaching for healing when shame and fear want you to hide. With insomnia and anxiety pressing hard, she found unusual calm through prayer, hymns, and handwritten lyric art taped to hospital walls. Her church community showed up with cards, calls, and real help that made prayer feel like presence.

We also talk about the rest of her health story: growing up with SVT and POTS, fainting in high school hallways, suspecting hypermobile EDS, and navigating the blurry overlap between preexisting symptoms and chemo side effects like ICANS. Emily offers hard-won advice for what to say—and what not to say—to someone in treatment, urges listeners to advocate for themselves without shame, and shares resources that changed her life, from Imerman Angels’ one-on-one mentorship to Tough Friends Art Club and Play It Back Music. And because hope runs, she’s marathon training with POTS, proving that recovery can be slow, wise, and beautifully stubborn.

If this conversation gave you courage or clarity, hit follow, rate the show, and share it with someone who needs steady hope today. Then tell us: what part of Emily’s journey spoke most to you?

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