{"id":74494,"date":"2024-03-08T10:42:27","date_gmt":"2024-03-08T17:42:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=74494"},"modified":"2025-12-31T08:40:05","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T15:40:05","slug":"mother-athlete-not-stopped-by-acute-lymphocytic-leukemia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/mother-athlete-not-stopped-by-acute-lymphocytic-leukemia\/","title":{"rendered":"Young mother of four and competitive athlete can&#8217;t be stopped by aggressive acute lymphocytic leukemia"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><figure id=\"attachment_74528\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-74528\" style=\"width: 560px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-74528 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/03\/08085026\/codieandchildrebeach-web.webp\" alt=\"Codie Mendez with her husband, Mark, and children, Psalm, Luka, Sullivan and Annakin. She fought acute lymphocytic leukemia, also known as ALL. Photos courtesy of Codie Mendez.\" width=\"560\" height=\"342\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-74528\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Codie Mendez with her husband, Mark, and children, Psalm, Luka, Sullivan and Annakin. At 27, Codie fought acute lymphocytic leukemia, also known as ALL. Photo courtesy of Codie Mendez.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Codie Mendez is a superhero to her four kids, and she had the hardware to prove it.<\/p>\n<p>When her children first noticed the port in her chest that would pump chemotherapy into her as she fought acute lymphocytic leukemia, also known as ALL, she assured them that the contraption was her own \u201carc reactor\u201d like the one that kept Iron Man alive.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter they heard that, they said, \u2018Mom, can we touch it?\u2019 I told them that I was going to the hospital but that I\u2019m coming back strong \u2014 super strong. They loved that idea and thought it was awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Tony Stark, aka Iron Man from Marvel comic book and movie fame, could take a few lessons in grit from Codie Mendez.<\/p>\n<div class=\"su-youtube su-u-responsive-media-yes\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"400\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qrVJkEBQD0A?mute=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture\" title=\"Strong like Codie | Codie Mendez | Harry Mack x UCHealth | Ep. 021\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia in July 2020, Codie had just turned 27. She was a busy mom raising three boys under 6, and nursing her fourth child, a daughter who was 1. She and her husband Mark had arrived in Firestone, Colorado, only a few weeks earlier as the Covid-19 pandemic was changing everything, and their house was crammed with unopened boxes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe just moved cross country. I\u2019m unpacking, and my shoulder started hurting. That\u2019s when it all began,\u201d Codie said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_74498\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-74498\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-74498\" src=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/03\/07095110\/codieinhospitalbedsized.webp\" alt=\"Codie Mendez spent an entire month at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital to receive chemotherapy to fight acute lymphocytic leukemia, a type of cancer of the blood and bone marrow affecting white blood cells.\" width=\"400\" height=\"533\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-74498\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Codie Mendez spent an entire month at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital receiving chemotherapy to fight acute lymphocytic leukemia, a type of cancer of the blood and bone marrow affecting white blood cells. Photo courtesy of Codie Mendez.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>That night as she massaged what she thought was a pulled muscled in her right shoulder, she felt a pea-sized bump that moved toward her neck. As the hours passed, she could \u201calmost feel it growing.\u201d Alarmed, she woke up her husband. They agreed to go to urgent care in the morning.<\/p>\n<p>By then, the lump had swollen to the size of a plum and was pressing against her throat, and she was having trouble breathing and swallowing. Within 24 hours, she\u2019d had an ultrasound, a CT scan and had made a trip to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/locations\/uchealth-longs-peak-medical-center\/\">UCHealth Longs Peak Medical Center in Longmont<\/a>, where she was told she would need to see an oncologist and undergo biopsies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m thinking, what? An oncologist?\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Always a competitor, she faced cancer with four young children<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Born and raised in southern California, Codie was a cross-country high school standout whose athletic prowess earned her a scholarship to Denver\u2019s Metro State in 2011. A year or so later, she met her future husband Mark, a Colorado native, and they moved to Wisconsin and Florida before returning to the Denver area and buying a home, sight unseen, in Firestone in summer 2020.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I first met Codie, she was in the prime of her collegiate athletic career,\u201d Mark said. \u201cI hadn\u2019t crossed paths with a cross country and track and field runner. Living by her side as she got up at 5 a.m. every day for training and the hundreds of miles she was running on a monthly basis, was enough to inspire anyone to work hard. I knew since then, we were in it together, and I could always trust her to give our family strength.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The family of six includes sons Psalm, born in 2014, with Luka coming a year later and Sullivan, arriving in 2017. Daughter Annakin was born in 2019.<\/p>\n<p>A few days after her trip to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/locations\/uchealth-longs-peak-hospital\/\">Longs Peak Hospital<\/a>, Codie was outside with the boys playing when she received a call with tough news. She had acute lymphocytic leukemia \u2014 a word Codie could barely pronounce when she tried to tell her husband minutes later. She would need to be seen by a cancer specialist to start immediate treatment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAcute\u201d means the cancer can progress quickly, while lymphocytic leukemia is a type of cancer of the blood and bone marrow affecting white blood cells.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_74499\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-74499\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-74499\" src=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/03\/07095212\/codieandchildsized.webp\" alt=\"Codie Mendez with her daughter, Annakin. Mendez endured several rounds of chemotherapy to fight acute lymphocytic leukemia.\" width=\"400\" height=\"533\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-74499\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Codie Mendez with her daughter, Annakin. Codie endured several rounds of chemotherapy to fight acute lymphocytic leukemia. Photo courtesy of Codie Mendez.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI just broke down. My oldest son ran to my husband and told him, \u2018Momma\u2019s crying. Momma\u2019s crying.\u2019 A half hour later, she was told she\u2019d need to begin 30 days of consecutive chemo treatment right away.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRunning through my mind is, who\u2019s going to take care of my kids? I home school them. My husband has a job. I\u2019m a stay-at-home mom. I\u2019m still breast feeding. How is this going to work?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Trying to process it all was crushing. But Codie tried to take away some positives. One of the reasons she and Mark returned to Colorado was to be close to his family.<\/p>\n<p>His mother stepped up to watch the kids during Codie\u2019s first round of chemo, and her husband would make the long drive every day to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/locations\/uchealth-at-university-of-colorado-anschutz-medical-campus\/\">Anschutz Medical Campus<\/a> in Aurora to ensure Codie had company during her treatments.<\/p>\n<p>But there was something she needed to do first, a painful but necessary task.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI cut all my hair off. That was really hard for me. As an African American woman, your hair is everything. Growing up I was extremely insecure, as your hair was something other kids would make fun of. By now, I had a beautiful afro, but I realized I didn\u2019t want it falling out during chemo. I wanted to take control of this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She went to a local barber where the stylist went to work, shaving a cool design into her scalp, giving her a hug and refusing any money.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy husband told me I looked beautiful, but my kids kept asking why I did it. They really struggled with it.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Tough treatment for a tough mom<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Codie spent all of August at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/locations\/uchealth-university-of-colorado-hospital-uch\/\">UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital<\/a> where she received chemo six days a week for four weeks. Visitors under age 12 weren\u2019t allowed on the floor to protect vulnerable patients, so she pleaded with her care team to let her go outside each week so she could see her children.<\/p>\n<p>Not only was she missing her kids, but Codie had other reasons to grieve. She had lost her hair, she was enduring chemo, she had to miss her son Sullivan\u2019s 3<sup>rd<\/sup> birthday and she had to give up breastfeeding her infant daughter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey had to bring a pump from the maternity floor, and I had to pump and dump the milk in the sink since it couldn\u2019t be used because of the chemo chemicals. I felt that was like pouring liquid gold down the drain,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>And there was another loss she had to contend with. August 2020 marked the one-year anniversary of the death of her older brother, Andre Maurice Moye Jr., a California Highway Patrol officer who was killed in the line of duty. Along with her older sister, Lissette Solorio, Codie released balloons in the skies above the hospital in his memory.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was really hard on my family because our oldest brother had passed away and now the youngest daughter was going through cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_74500\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-74500\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-74500\" src=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/03\/07095313\/codiemotorcylesized.webp\" alt=\"Codie Mendez and her husband, Mark. Diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia in July 2020, Codie had just turned 27. She was a busy mom raising three boys under 6, and nursing her fourth child.\" width=\"400\" height=\"534\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-74500\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Codie Mendez and her husband, Mark. Diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia in July 2020, Codie had just turned 27. She was a busy mom raising three boys under 6, and nursing her fourth child. Photo courtesy of Codie Mendez.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Codie was allowed to go home for a few weeks in September but had to face several more chemo rounds that would last through the end of the year.<\/p>\n<p>She had time to enroll the kids in school before she began a second round of tough, five-hour chemo treatments for another month. After a short break, she had to submit to a third round with a similar grueling schedule.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUndergoing the chemo was a full-time job. My immune system was weak, and I would drive myself to and from Anschutz, which was a 45-minute drive each way. The kids were in school and there was COVID, and they\u2019d come home, and we\u2019d be anxious. We had them change their clothes and wash their hands, but there was only so much you could do.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><strong>A stem cell transplant is Codie\u2019s best bet to beat cancer<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>After all of her treatments in 2020, Codie thought she was in remission, but in January 2021, oncologists informed her that the chemo hadn\u2019t been enough, and tests showed cancer cells remained. They wanted her to undergo a stem cell \u2014 or bone marrow \u2014 transplant, during which her bone marrow would be replaced with healthy cells from donor blood.<\/p>\n<p>The reason? Unfortunately, Codie had a rarer and more aggressive type of ALL, called Early T-cell Precursor ALL, in which the rate of relapse is higher. There are no novel immunotherapy treatments for this type of cancer, with oncologists relying on chemo and stem cell transplants to help patients, said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/provider\/marc-schwartz-md\/\">Dr. Marc Schwartz<\/a> who specializes in hematology and oncology at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/locations\/uchealth-bone-marrow-transplant-anschutz\/\">UCHealth Bone Marrow Transplant Clinic<\/a> on the Anschutz Medical Campus.<\/p>\n<p>He has been part of Codie\u2019s care team from the beginning.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur goal is to get patients into long-term remission and have the disease never come back,\u201d said Schwartz, who is also <a id=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/som.cuanschutz.edu\/Profiles\/Faculty\/Profile\/31731\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">an assistant professor of medicine-hematology<\/a> at the <a id=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/medschool.cuanschutz.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">University of Colorado School of Medicine<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Schwartz said UCHealth is unique in that many of these transplants use umbilical cord blood as the donor source, typically leading to better outcomes for patients.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is a unique aspect of cord blood that we think leads to better control of the disease without increased risk of long-term immunologic toxicity, in comparison to other donor sources,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>During a stem cell transplant procedure, stem cells from a compatible healthy adult are combined with stem cells from a unit of umbilical cord blood. In Codie\u2019s case, her mother was the adult donor.<\/p>\n<p>Once transplanted into the patient, the healthy donor cells recognize leukemia cells as foreign and eradicate them.<\/p>\n<p>During the procedure Codie had to stay in the hospital from mid-February to mid-March, 2021. She had more chemo and radiation therapy treatments prior to the procedure and spent several weeks recovering after to ensure her body accepted the stem cells without attacking them.<\/p>\n<p>For part of her recovery, she stayed in an apartment near Anschutz for about a month, and her sister Lissette quit her job to take care of her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe didn\u2019t like me very much because I was very strict about everything,\u2019\u2019 laughed Lissette, whose fianc\u00e9 is Mark\u2019s brother. \u201cI made her take her meds and took her back to the hospital when she got an infection.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI always told her, just get this done. You have a husband and children who need you. When she was extremely sick, going through dark times and wanting to give up, I tried my hardest to remind her, look at your babies\u2026they need you. I think those kids and Mark really encouraged her to stay strong through it, and I was just there to remind her of that.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_74523\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-74523\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-74523\" src=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/03\/07132137\/mom-battles-cancer-cropped-web.webp\" alt=\"Codie Mendez with her children, Psalm, Luka, Sullivan and Annakin. She fought acute lymphocytic leukemia, also known as ALL. Photos courtesy of Corrie Mendez.\" width=\"640\" height=\"385\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-74523\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Codie Mendez with her children, Psalm, Luka, Sullivan and Annakin. She fought acute lymphocytic leukemia, also known as ALL. Photo courtesy of Codie Mendez.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><strong>Martial arts helped give her hope and rebuild her confidence<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>After returning home after the transplant in spring 2021, Codie experienced health setbacks.<\/p>\n<p>She came down with Graft-Versus-Host-Disease, a complication that occurs when donated cells attack a patient\u2019s healthy cells. Steroids, which were part of her recovery treatment, ballooned her weight to 210, before she lost 100 pounds and more.<\/p>\n<p>Two years later, \u201cnormal\u201d is a word she doesn\u2019t like to use, though she\u2019s as close to it now than she\u2019s been in a while.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe\u2019s in long-term remission,\u201d Schwartz said. \u201cShe had no detectable signs of leukemia since the transplant and is doing great. I fully expect for her to stay in remission, and I\u2019m so happy to see her back with her family. It\u2019s wonderful to know she\u2019s doing so well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Though Codie sometimes struggles with fatigue and low energy, she has reached a Zen state of mind with the love of her family, gratitude for her husband whom she thanks every day for his support, and the intense rigor of mastering Muay Thai, or Thai Boxing, which she practices five times a week.<\/p>\n<p>Codie was drawn to the sport after wanting to get stronger and climb back in the driver seat when it came to her health. The aggressive version of martial arts where participants act first instead of being on the defensive is befitting to Codie\u2019s personality.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe\u2019s a stronger person now for sure,\u201d Lissette said. \u201cShe\u2019s a total bad ass. She\u2019s always been balls out about everything she does, and the mindfulness and discipline behind this sport helps her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The next belt Codie earns will be an advanced one, and last year she placed second place in the sparring category during a local Muay Thai tournament.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI love this, it\u2019s great. It\u2019s my jam,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Her husband has seen her through the struggles and said he couldn\u2019t be prouder.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe could have given up, and we wouldn\u2019t have held it against her. But she didn\u2019t, she made it through her trials, just for us. Codie\u2019s perseverance sets an example for anyone going through difficult times, and although it feels like we\u2019ve climbed mountain after mountain, I\u2019ll always tie up my hiking boots just to have the experience of hitting the trail with her one more time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe\u2019s inspired me constantly over the 11 years I\u2019ve known her. I love her, and our whole family loves her. And we always will.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_74504\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-74504\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-74504\" src=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/03\/07095748\/Codieandkidssized.webp\" alt=\"The Mendez family. Diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia in July 2020, Codie had just turned 27. She was a busy mom raising three boys under 6, and nursing her fourth child\" width=\"300\" height=\"400\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-74504\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Mendez family. Photo courtesy of Codie Mendez.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Codie has her sights on buying a house with a few acres. She would love to become a small-time farmer with a few animals (in addition to the three dogs Mark acquired while she recuperated), a big garden for flowers and vegetables, and a large yard for the kids to play.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBeing diagnosed with cancer has changed me so much as a person. I\u2019ll never be the same and I\u2019ll never feel the same. But it\u2019s also allowed me to heal a lot. I was very angry with stuff that happened in my childhood, but now I\u2019ve forgiven and tried to move on. I\u2019m just honestly a nicer person.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That self-growth includes knowing she can\u2019t protect her children from the truth about her medical issues even though she\u2019d like to.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, last fall she fainted while doing the dishes, dislocating her shoulder. Annakin tried to \u201cwake\u201d her up, even performing CPR. But when she continued to be unresponsive, she found her mom\u2019s cell phone and called her dad saying, \u201cMomma is hurt and she needs help,\u201d Codie recalled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey know their mommy might be a little bit sick, but they also know their mommy is strong.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Like a superhero.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Codie Mendez is a superhero to her four kids, and she had the hardware to prove it. When her children first noticed the port in her chest that would pump chemotherapy into her as she fought acute lymphocytic leukemia, also known as ALL, she assured them that the contraption was her own \u201carc reactor\u201d like [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2357,"featured_media":74523,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[6761,28,49,2563],"class_list":["post-74494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-bone-cancer-treatment","tag-cancer-care-oncology","tag-cancer-treatment","tag-leukemia"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>This mother and athlete won&#039;t be stopped by acute lymphocytic leukemia - UCHealth Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Acute lymphocytic leukemia can be a hostile foe. Here&#039;s how this mother of four, a wife and a competitive athlete beat ALL.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/mother-athlete-not-stopped-by-acute-lymphocytic-leukemia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Young mother of four and competitive athlete can&#039;t be stopped by aggressive acute lymphocytic leukemia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Acute lymphocytic leukemia can be a hostile foe. Here&#039;s how this mother of four, a wife and a competitive athlete beat ALL.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/mother-athlete-not-stopped-by-acute-lymphocytic-leukemia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UCHealth Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uchealthorg\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-03-08T17:42:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-31T15:40:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/03\/07132137\/mom-battles-cancer-cropped-web.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mary Gay Broderick, for UCHealth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@uchealth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@uchealth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mary Gay Broderick, for UCHealth\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"13 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/mother-athlete-not-stopped-by-acute-lymphocytic-leukemia\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/mother-athlete-not-stopped-by-acute-lymphocytic-leukemia\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Mary Gay Broderick, for UCHealth\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/person\/7c91e8a4932eea6caad6cc64ac28dede\"},\"headline\":\"Young mother of four and competitive athlete can&#8217;t be stopped by aggressive acute lymphocytic leukemia\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-03-08T17:42:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-31T15:40:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/mother-athlete-not-stopped-by-acute-lymphocytic-leukemia\/\"},\"wordCount\":2585,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/mother-athlete-not-stopped-by-acute-lymphocytic-leukemia\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/03\/07132137\/mom-battles-cancer-cropped-web.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Bone cancer treatment\",\"Cancer care\",\"Cancer treatment\",\"Leukemia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Stories\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/mother-athlete-not-stopped-by-acute-lymphocytic-leukemia\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/mother-athlete-not-stopped-by-acute-lymphocytic-leukemia\/\",\"name\":\"This mother and athlete won't be stopped by acute lymphocytic leukemia - UCHealth Today\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/mother-athlete-not-stopped-by-acute-lymphocytic-leukemia\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/mother-athlete-not-stopped-by-acute-lymphocytic-leukemia\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/03\/07132137\/mom-battles-cancer-cropped-web.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-03-08T17:42:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-31T15:40:05+00:00\",\"description\":\"Acute lymphocytic leukemia can be a hostile foe. Here's how this mother of four, a wife and a competitive athlete beat ALL.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/mother-athlete-not-stopped-by-acute-lymphocytic-leukemia\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/mother-athlete-not-stopped-by-acute-lymphocytic-leukemia\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/mother-athlete-not-stopped-by-acute-lymphocytic-leukemia\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/03\/07132137\/mom-battles-cancer-cropped-web.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/03\/07132137\/mom-battles-cancer-cropped-web.webp\",\"width\":800,\"height\":481,\"caption\":\"Corrie Mendez with her children, Psalm, Luka, Sullivan and Annakin. She fought acute lymphocytic leukemia, also known as ALL. Photos courtesy of Corrie Mendez.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/mother-athlete-not-stopped-by-acute-lymphocytic-leukemia\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Young mother of four and competitive athlete can&#8217;t be stopped by aggressive acute lymphocytic leukemia\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/\",\"name\":\"UCHealth Today\",\"description\":\"UCHealth Today\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#organization\",\"name\":\"UCHealth\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/24135149\/UCHealth-square-logo-1000x1000-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/24135149\/UCHealth-square-logo-1000x1000-1.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":1000,\"caption\":\"UCHealth\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uchealthorg\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/uchealth\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/uchealth\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/school\/14839\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/uchealthorg\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UC41SJI79yjZIe96OajzN22g\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/person\/7c91e8a4932eea6caad6cc64ac28dede\",\"name\":\"Mary Gay Broderick, for UCHealth\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f9d579b3ef424861e3376c7c220aff746632d6c832db6518dfb106680e04f407?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f9d579b3ef424861e3376c7c220aff746632d6c832db6518dfb106680e04f407?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f9d579b3ef424861e3376c7c220aff746632d6c832db6518dfb106680e04f407?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mary Gay Broderick, for UCHealth\"},\"description\":\"Mary Gay Broderick is a Denver-based freelance writer with more than 25 years experience in journalism, marketing, public relations and communications. She enjoys telling compelling stories about healthcare, especially the dedicated UCHealth professionals and the people whose lives they transform. She enjoys skiing, hiking, biking and traveling, along with baking (mostly) successful desserts for her husband and three daughters.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/author\/mgbroderick\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"This mother and athlete won't be stopped by acute lymphocytic leukemia - UCHealth Today","description":"Acute lymphocytic leukemia can be a hostile foe. Here's how this mother of four, a wife and a competitive athlete beat ALL.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/mother-athlete-not-stopped-by-acute-lymphocytic-leukemia\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Young mother of four and competitive athlete can't be stopped by aggressive acute lymphocytic leukemia","og_description":"Acute lymphocytic leukemia can be a hostile foe. Here's how this mother of four, a wife and a competitive athlete beat ALL.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/mother-athlete-not-stopped-by-acute-lymphocytic-leukemia\/","og_site_name":"UCHealth Today","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uchealthorg\/","article_published_time":"2024-03-08T17:42:27+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-12-31T15:40:05+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/03\/07132137\/mom-battles-cancer-cropped-web.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Mary Gay Broderick, for UCHealth","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@uchealth","twitter_site":"@uchealth","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mary Gay Broderick, for UCHealth","Est. reading time":"13 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/mother-athlete-not-stopped-by-acute-lymphocytic-leukemia\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/mother-athlete-not-stopped-by-acute-lymphocytic-leukemia\/"},"author":{"name":"Mary Gay Broderick, for UCHealth","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/person\/7c91e8a4932eea6caad6cc64ac28dede"},"headline":"Young mother of four and competitive athlete can&#8217;t be stopped by aggressive acute lymphocytic leukemia","datePublished":"2024-03-08T17:42:27+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-31T15:40:05+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/mother-athlete-not-stopped-by-acute-lymphocytic-leukemia\/"},"wordCount":2585,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/mother-athlete-not-stopped-by-acute-lymphocytic-leukemia\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/03\/07132137\/mom-battles-cancer-cropped-web.webp","keywords":["Bone cancer treatment","Cancer care","Cancer treatment","Leukemia"],"articleSection":["Stories"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/mother-athlete-not-stopped-by-acute-lymphocytic-leukemia\/","url":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/mother-athlete-not-stopped-by-acute-lymphocytic-leukemia\/","name":"This mother and athlete won't be stopped by acute lymphocytic leukemia - UCHealth Today","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/mother-athlete-not-stopped-by-acute-lymphocytic-leukemia\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/mother-athlete-not-stopped-by-acute-lymphocytic-leukemia\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/03\/07132137\/mom-battles-cancer-cropped-web.webp","datePublished":"2024-03-08T17:42:27+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-31T15:40:05+00:00","description":"Acute lymphocytic leukemia can be a hostile foe. Here's how this mother of four, a wife and a competitive athlete beat ALL.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/mother-athlete-not-stopped-by-acute-lymphocytic-leukemia\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/mother-athlete-not-stopped-by-acute-lymphocytic-leukemia\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/mother-athlete-not-stopped-by-acute-lymphocytic-leukemia\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/03\/07132137\/mom-battles-cancer-cropped-web.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/03\/07132137\/mom-battles-cancer-cropped-web.webp","width":800,"height":481,"caption":"Corrie Mendez with her children, Psalm, Luka, Sullivan and Annakin. She fought acute lymphocytic leukemia, also known as ALL. Photos courtesy of Corrie Mendez."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/mother-athlete-not-stopped-by-acute-lymphocytic-leukemia\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Young mother of four and competitive athlete can&#8217;t be stopped by aggressive acute lymphocytic leukemia"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/","name":"UCHealth Today","description":"UCHealth Today","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#organization","name":"UCHealth","url":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/24135149\/UCHealth-square-logo-1000x1000-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/24135149\/UCHealth-square-logo-1000x1000-1.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"caption":"UCHealth"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uchealthorg\/","https:\/\/x.com\/uchealth","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/uchealth\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/school\/14839\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/uchealthorg\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UC41SJI79yjZIe96OajzN22g"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/person\/7c91e8a4932eea6caad6cc64ac28dede","name":"Mary Gay Broderick, for UCHealth","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f9d579b3ef424861e3376c7c220aff746632d6c832db6518dfb106680e04f407?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f9d579b3ef424861e3376c7c220aff746632d6c832db6518dfb106680e04f407?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f9d579b3ef424861e3376c7c220aff746632d6c832db6518dfb106680e04f407?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Mary Gay Broderick, for UCHealth"},"description":"Mary Gay Broderick is a Denver-based freelance writer with more than 25 years experience in journalism, marketing, public relations and communications. She enjoys telling compelling stories about healthcare, especially the dedicated UCHealth professionals and the people whose lives they transform. She enjoys skiing, hiking, biking and traveling, along with baking (mostly) successful desserts for her husband and three daughters.","url":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/author\/mgbroderick\/"}]}},"coauthors":[{"id":2357,"name":"Mary Gay Broderick, for UCHealth","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/author\/mgbroderick\/"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2357"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74494"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74494\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87718,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74494\/revisions\/87718"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}