Pueblo teenager grateful to celebrate Christmas cancer-free

This year, Christmas has a new meaning for 15-year-old Kailee Hernandez.

Hernandez was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in August and is currently in remission.

“A lot of teenagers my age, they don’t really understand that life is a really, really precious gift and to really just cherish every single moment that you have,” Hernandez said.

She’s been in and out of the hospital for several months, undergoing round after round of chemotherapy.

“I had two little swollen lymph nodes right here [on my neck], and we went and I got an antibiotic and they didn’t go away. So then I did a biopsy and it came back malignant for Hodgkin’s lymphoma,” Hernandez said.

And then, last month, came the news she’d been praying for — the cancer was gone.

“I couldn’t believe it. I was supposed to have a long way to go. I was supposed to have four more months of chemotherapy and then radiation. So this was like the greatest news to me,” Hernandez said.

She knew she’d lose her hair during chemotherapy, but she said it became difficult to look at the person she saw in the mirror.

“It was hard. Hard to look at myself and see I’m still the same person. Just look different,” Hernandez said. “I kind of just began to weep and I was so mad at myself because I’m like, I can’t be sad. I can’t pity myself. There’s somebody out there who is struggling and going through so much more than I am.”

Hernandez began to take pride in her appearance, even posing for a picture with a Pueblo police officer during the department’s selfie contest.

“I asked her, ‘Kailee, there’s a selfie contest.’ And I asked her straight out: ‘If we find a bald officer, would you be willing to take pictures?’ I said that would be a great photo opportunity,” said Hernandez’s mom, Gina Pea.

Hernandez had to miss a lot of classes at East High School this semester to undergo treatment, but she said her three best friends have been by her side every step of the way.

Hernandez’s family has an account set up at Wells Fargo, under the name Kailee Hernandez, to pay for medical costs. Items can also be dropped off at the Pueblo Police Department headquarters at 200 S. Main St.

Hernandez didn’t win the police department’s selfie contest, but officers were so touched by her story that they recently gave her a stuffed bear and a food basket to share with her family.