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Clay Slenk, 24, and Mariah Nelesen, 23, got engaged on December 26, 2020. They planned to get married on June 10, 2022, but their plans had to change. In January this year, they both received shocking news from a doctor that changed their lives.
The couple found out that they had cancer 8 days apart
The first call was answered by Mariah, who heard over the phone that she had cancer. “I got a call on January 11 this year that I have ovarian cancer. It’s not the phone you’re expecting,” she said in an interview with. The couple explained that the woman had ovarian cysts removed, which later turned out to be cancerous cells. Mariah has been diagnosed with a granulosa cell tumor (AGCT), a rare ovarian cancer that requires surgery and chemotherapy.
Eight days later, on January 19, Clay answered the call from the doctor. The doctor told him that he was concerned about the man’s blood test results. He advised him to go to Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids immediately.
Around eight o’clock my doctor called and said, “I want you to go to the Spectrum now. I think you have leukemia.”
– he told in KTLA.
At first, Clay thought that poor blood test results were a complication of pneumonia. Ultimately, it turned out that he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), an aggressive cancer that arises from blood cells.
Slenk required immediate treatment and spent over 40 days in the hospital. After they like them, they will undergo a stem cell transplant procedure that replaces the damaged bone marrow with healthy stem cells.
The couple was due to get married on June 10, 2022, but given the man’s treatment, she postponed it to April 9.
We have postponed our wedding date so that we can get married. Mariah will be here with me, she can look after me, and we will go through it all together.
Wedding plans have changed dramatically
Given that no one expected the bride and groom to fall ill at such a young age, Mariah decided to freeze her eggs. In an interview with KTLA, Clay confessed that he is an optimist. “Why get angry? Being angry, frustrated and depressed only makes it worse,” he admitted.
In terms of the wedding, a lot has also changed. The woman revealed that her and her fiancée’s diagnosis allowed them to focus on what was really important.
I was busy planning and excited about all the little details like where we were going to get married and the food we were going to eat. Now, when changing my wedding plan, I threw everything out the window. It will be a special day no matter what.
Clay said it wasn’t going to be easy, but most importantly, they would go through it all together.
During the wedding ceremony, the words are often said: “In health and in sickness”. Clay Slenk and Mariah Nelesen had to deal with the meaning of these words before saying “yes” to themselves on the carpet.
Source: Gazeta
Tristin is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
