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As a recent graduate from UCLA preparing for a role as a substitute

teacher in her childhood school district, Bliss Saleebyan found her-

self at the perfect moment in life. Then, in the early months of winter,

the 19-year-old was faced with an unsettling reality: cancer. She

used her writing, her attitude and a little lift to keep her spirit

strong—eventually becoming an inspiration to herself and to thou-

sands around the world.

“I was born at Glendale Adventist Medical

Center, but never did I think I would end up here as a patient,”

Saleebyan recalls.

“It was early December when I went to

the emergency room for chest pain with a

swollen face and neck that made me look

like a giant chipmunk. The doctors gave me

the terrifying news that I had a large mass

in my chest and pulmonary embolism!”

She remained hospitalized for 15 days

while Glendale Adventist Medical Center

(GAMC) physicians continued thorough

testing and surveillance. The final results

were frightening: Saleebyan was diag-

nosed with a “rare and aggressive” form of

stage III non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Over the course of the year, she had

POWER

LIFT

several rounds of aggressive and targeted

chemotherapy, but she refused to let the

weight of her diagnoses slow her down.

After 17 weeks and roughly 625 hours of

chemotherapy, Saleebyan received some

miraculous news: She was officially in

remission. A PET scan on April 13, just

four months after diagnosis, indicated

that the 10-centimeter malignant tumor

invading her body and harming all sur-

rounding organs had gone down to a few

centimeters of inactive, and presumably

dead, tissue. In three months, she will

continue surveillance to ensure that all

remaining tissues have broken down.

Along her journey, Saleebyan used

social media to share her writing, gather-

ing thousands of fans and followers and

inspiring others to pick up the weight

of life’s challenges and lift it high above

them. Saleebyan shares three key points

she attributes to her healing.

1

PHYSICAL FITNESS

“When the horrific news of my diag-

nosis shook up my world, one of the first

things to cross my mind was, ‘How long

until I can lift again?’”

Two years ago, Saleebyan was intro-

duced to the world of powerlifting by

her big brother, Braven. Powerlifting is

a strength sport that consists of three at-

tempts at maximum weight, lifting using

squats, bench presses and deadlifts. “It

seemed to be a silly concern to those who

didn’t share my passion for powerlifting,

but I was determined to maintain my

strength.” She found herself falling in love

with powerlifting, disciplining herself and

training hard.

“Why powerlifting?” Saleebyan asks.

“The thought of not lifting was one of the

Bliss Saleebyan with

her lead oncologist,

David Shin, MD

The

of the

Battling

cancer, Bliss

Saleebyan is

an uplifting

inspiration

CANCER CARE

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T O F I N D A D O C T O R , C A L L

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