A life-changing diagnosis can come with fear, isolation and anxiety, and the last thing on people's minds experiencing it would be Valentine's Day.
But a two-time cancer survivor is ensuring those undergoing treatment are feeling loved on this day.
We don’t just report the initial story—we follow through to its conclusion. Read and watch our previous reporting on this story below and see more stories that we've followed through on here.
We first met Julia Oppman last year as she was giving back and spreading love for the fifth year in a row to cancer patients at University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center and Rainbow Babies and Children.
Well, this year, she's in her sixth year of doing just that.
Oppman was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, which is a rare and aggressive blood cancer that requires a month-long inpatient stay for "induction" chemotherapy.
She was diagnosed at just 36 years old in 2018.
Oppman's last day of treatment would have been right before Valentine's Day in 2019; however, she relapsed a year later.
She had to undergo a bone marrow transplant to save her life at the James Cancer Hospital at Ohio State in Columbus.
Oppman has taken that Valentine's Day gift of being cancer-free and has turned it into a tradition of giving back to others.
She takes care packages to different hospitals and said it consists of items she would have enjoyed while in treatment.
We were able to catch up with Oppman right before Valentine's Day to see how she has been doing.
"Overall, I'm still, you know, taking it day by day and struggling with some bone marrow transplant complications," Oppman said. "But overall, I'm here, and I'm doing well, and we're happy to be here.
