In November, 26-year-old Hardee Bhavsar crossed a big item off her bucket list: running the New York City Marathon.

It was her first marathon, which is something she never imagined she'd be able to accomplish five years ago. “I couldn’t walk up the stairs before,” Bhavsar tells TODAY.com.

In 2020, at 20 years old, Bhavsar was diagnosed with stage 2 Hodgkin lymphoma, a cancer that affects the lymphatic system. For an otherwise healthy, young person, it came as a shock.

However, Hodgkin lymphoma is most common in early adulthood, per the American Cancer Society .

In hindsight, Bhavsar had been experiencing — and ignoring — early signs of lymphoma for months before she was diagnosed.

She shared her journey, from her first symptoms to her treatment during the COVID pandemic and recovery

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