Cancer Survivors Day 2025
Cancer Survivors Day 2025
In celebration of Cancer Survivors Day, we share inspiring stories every year from our friends and family who have triumphed over cancer. The journey through cancer is deeply personal for us, as PayGround’s origins are rooted in our CEO’s own experience.
This year, we created a compilation of stories from Brayden, Logan and Vivek. They are PayGround friends and family who have survived cancer. We always want to take a moment on this day to celebrate their lives and to raise awareness! We are honored to share their stories below.
Brayden’s Story
Cancer Diagnosis
My cancer journey began on March 15, 2022, when my lymph nodes started to swell. Initially, I was diagnosed with strep throat and prescribed antibiotics. The swelling subsided, but soon after, I began feeling unusually tired during school, and dark circles formed under my eyes. After a second check-up, the diagnosis was changed to mono, which explained the fatigue and general malaise. However, my symptoms returned, with the dark circles worsening, prompting another visit to a clinic and then a hospital. There, I was diagnosed with leukemia, though the specific type was initially uncertain.
At MD Anderson, they identified my condition as BPDCN Leukemia—a rare and aggressive form of leukemia in pediatric patients. MD Anderson first discovered this type in 2018, and there have only been 20 known pediatric cases like mine. I spent approximately six months in the hospital, with occasional days at home.
Treatment
After a week of radiation therapy, I underwent the stem cell transplant. The subsequent period focused on recovery and monitoring my levels to ensure my body did not reject the donor cells.
My little brother played a crucial role in my recovery. He was my stem cell donor, and remarkably, he was a 10/10 perfect match—a rarity among siblings. He underwent a two-day procedure to donate his cells to me, and without his selflessness, I don’t know where I’d be today.
Support System
My family was my backbone throughout this entire ordeal. Whether they were close by or in another state, their support never wavered. My parents took turns being by my side every day, providing not just company but also helping with basic tasks I couldn’t manage due to being hooked up to medication, like getting food for me. Without the unwavering support of my brother, my family and friends, I wouldn’t have made it through this challenging time.
Vivek’s Story
Diagnosis & Treatment
December 9th, 2020 we added a new chapter to our life with Vivek’s Stage 3 Colon Cancer diagnosis. Saying that we were caught off guard would be an understatement. What followed was a colon resection surgery where they removed a foot of his colon (not to worry, he still has approximately 4 ft left), countless number of blood tests, ultrasounds, PET Scan, biopsies, endoscopy, colonoscopy and 10 rounds of chemo with two different types of cocktails.
Support System
One of the biggest things that we knew we needed to do after receiving the diagnosis was to make sure we kept a positive mindset. The night he was admitted in the hospital, we as a family started a nightly gratitude circle. We wanted to be sure we appreciated all the things that were going right for us, despite this bend in the road. More than the three of staying positive, it was key for Vivek to be able to not let himself get down and to stay distracted.
He decided he was going to do this with staying busy at work and also continue to exercise and stay fit as much as he could. We ordered a Peloton the first week of January. He also worked on playing pickleball and squash outdoors with our kids, Riya & Eshan, and hiked.
We did our best to keep our friends and family in the loop as much as we could and always loved their messages and truly were the wind beneath our wings to keep soaring. We knew this journey was something we would need to take a day at a time and our plan was to ride the high waves and swim with all our might through the lows.
Logan’s Story
Diagnosis
I was studying construction management at Colorado State University when I was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). It was my spring semester of my sophomore year when my life changed forever. I was working on numerous final projects and ended up getting sick with what I thought was a head cold.
After a couple of weeks the symptoms got worse and I was spiking extremely high fevers. I went back to the doctor and they drew some labs to rule out mono. Two days later, I found myself back at the doctors where it was there that I learned that I had become a cancer patient. I was told to go straight to the hospital where my treatment began. I was fortunate enough to be treated at one of the world’s best hospitals especially for my particular kind of cancer.
Treatment
Children’s Hospital Colorado became my home for 192 days while fighting this ugly disease. During that time I received 5 rounds of extremely aggressive chemotherapy and spent 22 days in the ICU. I had abdominal surgery to repair a hole in my colon caused by the chemo. After months of getting healed and learning to walk again, my body was finally able to receive a bone marrow transplant.
A month after my transplant I was able to ring the bell as a sign of the end of treatment and was able to go home. I spent the next 11 months trying to put weight back on and gain strength and stamina.
A year to the day following the day I was able to go home, I received news that I had relapsed. Leukemia had been found in my recent tests. Round two was a little easier, as I knew what to expect. I went through another three rounds of chemo and went straight to another bone marrow transplant. The transplant went well with some lingering side effects.
Currently, my labs and tests indicate that I am in remission. Throughout treatment I developed a close relationship with God and learned what my purpose of being diagnosed was.
Support System
Throughout my journey I was blessed to meet some of the most amazing families whose children lost their battles and are not with us anymore. We won’t stop fighting for more funding for pediatric cancer until all children are cured of cancer. Less than 4% of government funding goes towards pediatric cancer, which is substantially less than what it needs to be. I can’t thank you all for taking time to read a little about me. Hold your loved ones a little closer, and have faith in God . Our lives can drastically change in the blink of an eye.