News4 reporter Aimee Cho was recently diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma. As she nears the end of her treatments, she's opening up about her experience — and the new hobby she's picked up that's helping her through it.
At 27, Cho said she was surprised to learn she had cancer because she felt healthy.
"It's so crazy. There were no warning signs. I had no idea, really," she said.
Cho said in June she went to an urgent care because she had a lingering cough after having a cold.
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"So I did an X-ray of my chest, and the nurse came back in and she was like, 'This is not related to the cold, but you have a mass in your chest,'" she said.
For three months, she underwent various tests.
"Eventually, they told me it was stage two Hodgkin's lymphoma, which is obviously really hard to hear.
You know, I just never expected that. Honestly, I still can't believe it. I felt so healthy and great," Cho said.
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As the shock wore off and reality set in, Cho underwent several biopsy surgeries and six rounds of chemotherapy.
"It's been a long, long road. I'm very tired, but almost at the end of this journey," she said.
She said the treatments have been really hard, spending hours hooked up to a machine and enduring the painful side-effects that follow.
But she's managed to find a positive, productive way to pass the time.
"My little sister got me a learn to crochet stuffed animals book as a gift because I actually used to crochet back in the day when I was a kid," she said.
She's made dozens of stuffed animals already and plans to donate them to pediatric cancer patients.
"I just figured, you know, I wanted to do something good with my time, and I also don't need 50 stuffed animals sitting around cluttering up my apartment," Cho joked.
She began the crochet project with an elephant. Now, she has an entire zoo's worth of animals ready for children in need of some extra love.
"I figured, you know, as terrible as everything that I've been going through has been, it's so much worse for kids. You know, they're so young. They don't understand what's going on. They're scared. They're in the hospital. I know how terrible chemo is being in the hospital," she said.
With each animal, she includes a handwritten note from one cancer warrior to another.
Cho said her prognosis is good, which has made the experience more bearable.
"I'm really lucky that it got caught early. You know, it's a treatable form of cancer," she said. "But, you know, it's forced me to slow down and take stock of everything that I have and everything that I'm thankful for and all the wonderful people in my life."
"I just really appreciate all of the support," she said.
Cho said her latest PET scan showed the chemotherapy is working and her last treatment is a few days before Thanksgiving. She's looking forward to spending the holiday at home with her parents, who have been by her side, cooking meals and going to all of her treatments with her.
Once she’s given the all clear, she said she's eager to get back to work in front of the camera, hopefully, early next year.
