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BY Sarah Zizinia

After she’d been sick with flu-like symptoms for several weeks, Kirsti Hoopingarner decided to see her doctor. She’d been having trouble breathing, so her doctor ordered a chest X-ray and a CT scan.

The results showed a mass on Kirsti’s thymus gland. The 29-year-old was shocked. Her mother had been diagnosed with thymoma when she was 46. 

Kirsti had a biopsy of the mass done near her home in Illinois. While her local...

Thymoma survivor Kirsti Hoopingarner sits in front of a lake beside her husband and two daughters.

BY Cynthia DeMarco

Cancer patients come to MD Anderson for many reasons. Some want the expertise of the nation’s top hospital for cancer care for cancer care...

BY Cynthia Sanchez

When I found out I had thymoma — a rare tumor of the thymus gland — I knew I couldn’t stay in South Texas for my treatment.

I’d been...

BY Anna Masten Jackson

My husband and I recently made the familiar journey to MD Anderson again. It was time for another check-up. Since I was diagnosed with stage IV thymoma in 2013, this has become a normal part of our life. We do labs and scans, and then prayerfully meet with doctors, hoping for good news.

These trips always remind me of the frightening reality of cancer. On days like these, I reflect on the lessons I have learned from cancer. There...

Anna Masten Jackson shares her thymoma story.

BY Anna Masten Jackson

I have found a lot of new normals after my thymoma diagnosis. There is the new normal of a few aches and pains, reminders of surgeries past...

BY Anna Masten Jackson

Finding out you have cancer brings so many questions to mind. Finding out you have a very rare cancer, like thymoma, brings even more -- and...

BY Anna Masten Jackson

You see it all around you: pink ribbons, pink hats, pink T-shirts. You can buy pink bracelets, pink bookmarks and pink watches. When I was...

BY Anna Masten Jackson

Discouragement is one of those common experiences that we have all faced at some time or another. But when you're fighting cancer, discouragement...

BY Anna Masten Jackson

Possibly one of the most concerning parts of cancer treatment is the idea of losing your hair. Talk about adding insult to injury. When I...

BY Anna Masten Jackson

In January 2013, I was diagnosed with stage IV invasive thymoma. Never heard of it? Don't feel bad, no one else I know has either. In fact...