September 28, 2025
Names are called. Each student fidgets with their deep blue gown and excitedly crosses the stage. They firmly shake the principal’s hand, take their crisp, new diploma, and smile out at loved ones in the crowd. Navy caps fly through the air, their tassels creating bursts of color and promises. Bright cheers erupt from the rows of graduates. High school graduation: a time for celebration and new beginnings.
Before walking across the stage, Lindsey Hollett pushed her long, straight brown hair to the side, ripped off the white cotton bandage and smiled so wide the freckles on her cheeks brushed her bottom eyelashes.
For her, the early hours of graduation day were also marked with a special uncertainty. Her morning was spent in a cold, sterile doctor’s office, being poked and prodded as a sample of her tissue was taken and sent to a lab.
This was no way to begin a new journey. Or was it?
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In February 2022, Lindsey woke up to a swollen lymph node in her neck. As a busy high school senior, she figured the bothersome lump was from high stress levels or a cold. She visited her pediatrician and was sent for routine bloodwork to rule out all possibilities. When the results came back negative, Lindsey waited three weeks before following up with her doctor.
The lump was as prominent on the third week as it was on the first. Pushing against her skin, it was as if it was trying to crawl out or scream for attention. Lindsey sat through extensive blood work, only to receive more negative results.
As many know, patience is strongly tested when waiting for an opening at the doctor’s office. Two months later, a still-swollen lymph node, multiple rounds of negative tests later and Lindsey finally got an appointment with an ear, nose and throat specialist.
“In today’s healthcare system, nothing moves quickly,” Lindsey’s mom, Courtney Hollett, said.
The slow march of waiting continued after Lindsey went for an MRI scan. What she thought was a common cold turned into almost three months of investigating why a random lump decided to stick around for so long.
Next came the biopsy on graduation morning.
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Memorial Day weekend rolled around and began with the familiar drive to Lindsey’s family-friend’s house in the Outer Banks. It was a golden tradition, one her family held near to their hearts. Lindsey looked out the window at the large oak and cedar trees lining the highway, rushing past in a blur of green amongst the sea of clouds. Although it was same route, on the same weekend as every year, Lindsey had a feeling this drive was going to be different.
Due to the 21st Century Cures Act, a federal regulation that grants patients immediate access to their health records, Lindsey found out the biopsy results before getting a call from her doctor.
As Lindsey read her results aloud, emotion clouded the car, shrouding everyone in an overwhelming haze. It felt like life was moving in slow motion as Lindsey looked at her mom through blurry blue eyes and tears crashed in waves down both their faces. A heavy weight rested on their shoulders until the inevitable call came that set the diagnosis into reality.
“Hi Lindsey, we got the results,” her doctor said.
What her doctor didn’t know was that they already knew she had Lymphoma.
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“You always hear of people that have cancer, and you know people, but you never think it’s going to be you, and then it’s you,” Lindsey said.
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Lindsey didn’t know what to think. It didn’t feel real to herself or any of her family members.
“I felt scared and overwhelmed, especially knowing it was a holiday weekend, and we likely wouldn’t get answers right away,” Courtney recalled.
Thankfully, their friends had connections at the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at Virginia Commonwealth University, and Lindsey was scheduled to go that Tuesday. Memorial Day weekend went on as planned because Lindsey knew it was important to be surrounded by the people they loved.
When Lindsey opened her eyes to the new day’s light, the warmth of the sun felt different. The world felt odd, this whole new reality that was now hers.
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From there, another waiting period loomed, making time feel as if it was moving through honey. Courtney Hollett remembers it was the hardest part. It took another three weeks to learn the type and stage before a treatment plan was decided.
“I was going in optimistic. Maybe I wouldn’t have to get chemo. Maybe that won’t be my future. Maybe I’ll just have to get radiation. I was trying to think of the best case scenario,” Lindsey said.
Lindsey grasped onto her optimism as the whirlwind of cancer treatment swept into her life. The waiting period was over, and the next steps came barreling in. On June 7, 2022, she went into surgery to have a port put in for chemotherapy. A portion of her lymph node was taken out for further testing that then confirmed her diagnosis of Stage llA Non-Bulky Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
This stage and type of Lymphoma signifies that the cancer is in two or more lymph node groups on the same side of the diaphragm, with no bulky tumor (over 10cm) and no symptoms like fever, night sweats or weight loss (no 'B' symptoms). The American Cancer Society estimates about 80,350 new cases of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL) were diagnosed in 2025.
Less than a week later, on June 16, 2022, Lindsey started her first round of chemotherapy.
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“Why me? Did I do something? What’s going on? It was a lot of emotions, but overall, I am a very positive person, so I just tried to keep looking at the silver lining and I feel like my faith grew through it too,” Lindsey said.
She was all set to move into her dorm at High Point University that August to start her freshman year of college. She had a roommate, decorations picked out and was ready to start the next chapter of her education. Life turned to an unexpected page quickly and with her treatment based in Richmond, she knew that High Point had to wait.
Everything in her life was changing. Getting into the routine of cancer treatment is no small task, but Lindsey knew she wasn’t going to let anything stop her.
She may not have known exactly why, but she knew God had a plan for her.
“I’m going to fight. I’m going to do this. And I’m going to get out on the other side,” Lindsey said.
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Kaylee Thomasson, one of Lindsey’s nurses during her treatment, adored her infectious optimism and positive outlook on life. She remembers when the doctor told her she’d be caring for a teenage girl. Teenagers are already dealing with immense changes and the ups-and-downs of emotional rollercoasters, and Kaylee was ready to help Lindsey get through it all.
On the first day they met, she promised they were going to be best friends.
“I loved caring for Lindsey as she always believed in her team and had a positive outlook. This helped her in many ways: quality of life, managing stress and adhering to her treatment plan,” Kaylee said. “She wanted to learn more about what was going on with herself every appointment but also wanted to learn about the people caring for her.”
Lindsey met many supportive people along the way, and she leaned on them during the hardest days of her treatment. She woke up on June 30, 2022, her 19th birthday, wishing for one thing: her hair to wait one more day before falling out.
As she raked her hands through her shoulder-length brown hair, all she could think was please not my birthday.
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Lindsey knew being surrounded by family would be good for her, but in that moment, she was shaken by fear. She told her mom but couldn’t bring herself to tell her dad about her hair yet; she didn’t want anyone at her birthday dinner to know.
“So many young women take pride in their long hair, and you don’t realize how deeply it matters until it’s gone,” Courtney Hollett said. “It was a very emotional milestone for her, but she faced it with the same strength she carried throughout her entire treatment.”
Lindsey decided that as soon as her hair started falling out, she would shave it and donate as much as she could. She wanted to be a part of helping make wigs for other cancer patients.
“That was definitely one of the hardest days because that’s such a huge part of who you are as a person,” Lindsey said. “And when you lose that, it feels like you are losing a piece of yourself.”
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Many unexpected people came into her life during treatment, and Lindsey knows that she met each one for a reason. One of her biggest encouragers during this time was the lady who cut her hair and made her wig. The woman is a cancer survivor, and made Lindsey feel seen throughout the process. She was the perfect person for that moment, and showed Lindsey that she can fight, and will get through it.
The shoulder-length bob was colored almost perfectly to match Lindsey’s rich, brown hair. But during the scorching humidity of summer in Virginia, all Lindsey could think was how uncomfortable that wig would be in the heat.
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Lindsey started her third round of chemotherapy on July 26, 2022.
“I definitely lost people along the way too,” Lindsey said. “It was definitely hard because I don’t expect anyone to understand what I’m going through. When someone’s gone through something like that, you just have a new perspective on life, and you just grow with people, or you don’t.”
Despite any odds against Lindsey, she forged ahead in her treatment, ready to take on anything Lymphoma threw at her next.
“Lindsey’s positivity, along with her incredible medical team, kept us going,” Courtney Hollett said.
Adjusting to the treatment schedule was a full-family effort, and much like their daughter, the Hollett’s found the good in their current situation by always making time to laugh and smile.
“We passed the time by watching a lot of Netflix together. We even joked that I was her ‘roommate’ during treatment cycles because I would move into her room to give her medications throughout the night,” Courtney Hollett said. “We set alarms every four hours to help manage her nausea. Humor and little routines like that helped us stay strong as a family.”
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Strength, patience, optimism.
These three stayed with Lindsey from the second she opened her patient portal to see the word Lymphoma, until she got to ring the shiny, silver bell at the end of the long hallway.
Lindsey walked down the hall lined with doctors and nurses, everyone cheering her on through the final steps of her treatment. As she neared the bell, in her short, brown wig and dazzling smile, she knew she made it. She was ready to reach out, swing the cord back and forth, and hear the clangs of victory.
“Lindsey is a true blessing. She helped me learn resilience. As I care for older adults now, and not kids or teens, it validates this even more,” Kaylee said. “She was faced with so, so much adversity and still cultivated a positive outlook every single treatment.”
Aug. 23, 2022, six months after waking up to that swollen lymph node in her neck, Lindsey reached the most important milestone: remission.
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“There’s a reason for this, and a reason for why I’m going through this. I’m going to learn and grow and be able to help other people,” Lindsey said.
Lindsey grew up around service work, watching Courtney Hollett work for a nonprofit and learning the value of helping others. During her cancer treatment, Lindsey experienced the incredible impact that nonprofit organizations are making on cancer patients and their families.
Lindsey was in the pediatric unit for the duration of her treatment. Each time she was in the clinic, there was never a shortage of popsicles, juice boxes, doughnuts and games. Parents were treated to coffee and lunch. All supplied by Connor’s Heroes.
Connor’s Heroes is a nonprofit organization based in Richmond, that was founded in 2006 as a salute to Connor Goodwin, who triumphed after two and a half years of cancer treatment as a preschooler. The nonprofit is dedicated to helping the families in Central Virginia cope with childhood cancer and the community’s researchers conquer it.
After crossing the finish line into remission, Lindsey joined the Hero Squad at Connor's Heroes Foundation to help raise funds for people that are going through or have gone through cancer. She participated in the 12th Annual Connor’s Heroes Art Ball on May 19, 2023, where she auctioned off a blue hydrangea painting that she made with a local artist.
As the auctioning started, she stepped into the bright, yellow stage lights, her beautiful brown curls glistening against the rays, and looked out at the crowd of nearly 500 people. The live bidding flashed by in an instant as numbered cards shot into the air, one after the other, scattering across the room.
“Sold! To the lady right there for $9,000,” the auctioneer said.
Lindsey was blown away. She never considered herself much of an artist, but this would be one of the most important pieces she’d ever make.
“The lady that bought it, then came up to me after. She had the same cancer at the same age as me,” Lindsey said. “I had chills. I was crying. There was no way. Same age, same cancer. And she owns a hair salon where I live. My art hangs in her hair salon. Now I go to her to get my hair done.”
If Lindsey didn’t believe in fate before the auction, she absolutely did afterward.
“That was another one of the people that I was meant to meet,” Lindsey said.
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Her dad joined the board for Connor’s Heroes, and Lindsey has now fundraised three times during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, which is September.
“I love to support when I can. I’m fundraising again this year. It’s an organization that gave so much to my family, and I’m passionate about giving back to it,” Lindsey said. “When it’s something that you’ve gone through, you’re even more passionate about it.”
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After having to postpone her freshman year at High Point University, Lindsey now looks back and is grateful she made that decision. She is now a junior at HPU, majoring in strategic communication, advertising and public relations, with minors in social media marketing and women’s leadership development.
“That’s what makes me happy. Being busy, helping others and being there for others,” Lindsey said.
She has gotten involved on campus and serves as the vice president of new member education for her sorority Alpha Chi Omega. Her passion for leadership and social media creation helps her succeed as an HPU social media ambassador and university ambassador.
“She is post one year after treatment and in college doing amazing things. I love the full circle,” Kaylee said. “And how learning to take care of her and her family allowed me to play such a special role, but also for her to play a special role in my life as well.”
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“Lindsey was truly amazing. One of my friends described her best: ‘She made cancer look easy.’ She faced everything with grace and positivity,” Courtney Hollett said.
This journey and experience taught Lindsey an important lesson, something that she still holds on to today: Everything can change so quickly. Be grateful for the moment and the season that you’re in.
That is something that everyone can learn from Lindsey.