Get to know Nicola Unterecker, a 29-year-old from southern Germany. Despite facing a challenging diagnosis of a crossed form of Burkitt’s lymphoma and Burkitt’s leukemia at the tender age of 11, Nicola’s zest for life knows no bounds: from outdoor escapades with her furry squad to jamming out on musical instruments and getting crafty – it’s all there.
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What is your name? How old are you? Where are you from?
My name is Nicola and I’m 29 years old. I’m half American, half German and live in southern Germany with my husband and three cats.
What’s your diagnosis?
I have been diagnosed with a crossed form of Burkitt’s lymphoma and Burkitt’s leukemia.
How and when did you find out about your diagnosis?
I was first diagnosed at age 11 after experiencing severe weight loss, itching arms and legs and flu-like symptoms for several weeks. After being sent to a psychologist for an eating disorder, he actually noticed a weird rash on my arm and sent me to my GP for labs. I relapsed several times and finally received a stem cell transplant in October 2022.
What has the cancer experience taught you?
Living with cancer for more than half of my life taught me that both, life and death, can be cruel and beautiful – sometimes even at the same time. And that you’re never too sick or too broken to change something in this world. My power lies within me, not in what or how someone else sees me.
What helped you the most during the treatment process?
That would definitely be music! Especially in my late teenage years and early 20s I’d spend most of my time in the hospital being on YouTube, browsing through songs and bands no one I knew had ever heard of. A lot of those songs still accompany me to this day.
Try to describe yourself in 3 sentences
I’m a dreamer and a big kid at heart but also not afraid to face a challenge. While I enjoy being alone, in the right company I do become an extrovert – still I would choose the company of animals over people any day. I can remember song lyrics way better than names and there’s ALWAYS a song playing on my mind – yes sometimes it does get annoying.
