She had her whole life ahead of her. Until she didn’t.
Suleika Jaouad was living in Paris when she started to feel ill. The early symptoms were innocent enough: itchy legs and exhaustion. But they began to escalate, and her doctors advised her to fly back to the U.S. for care. At home, she finally got a diagnosis: leukemia.
In treatment, Suleika depended on other people to take care of her. Her chances of surviving were slim. Despite the odds, she knew she needed something to live for. So Suleika started writing a blog about cancer that became a column at The New York Times. To offset her loneliness, she started replying to messages she received from her readers.
After she recovered, Suleika set off on a 100-day trip around the country to visit some of the pen pals with whom she had grown close during her treatment. Learn more about what she found in our Instaread on Between Two Kingdoms.
