Fairfax Station Resident Competes for Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Honor

Fairfax Station resident and leukemia survivor Julie Matthews is campaigning to be the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s ‘Woman of the Year,’ a friendly competition with the goal of raising funds for cancer research.

“It’s very rewarding to think I can do something to make the recovery process easier for someone else,” Matthews, 33, said. “Having been through it personally, I understand how important the research is to recovery.”

Matthews, who is a Lake Braddock Secondary School graduate and life-long Fairfax Station resident, is campaigning with the platform “community” because she credits her community of family, friends, and neighbors to her recovery.

Matthews was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in 2005 when she was 27 years old. She had just graduated from American University with a master’s degree and had gone to Quito, Ecuador, to celebrate with friends.

“I started having symptoms like a headache, fatigue, and rapid pulse,” Matthews said. “I thought I had gotten a bug. When I got home, the doctor said that my red blood cell count was very low.”

After tests confirmed Matthews had leukemia, she began receiving chemotherapy the next day and spent a month in a hospital. Matthews’ mother, father, brother, and two sisters decorated her hospital room. Friends were also supportive.

“It was devastating when she first heard about her diagnosis,” said Lori Morgan, who has known Matthews since grade school. “I didn’t know much about leukemia at the time, but the way she took on the challenge was inspiring to see. It made me realize even more why I am friends with her.”

The chemotherapy, blood transfusions, and other treatments helped Matthews’ recovery. However, she was limited in how much interaction she could have with others in public and had to stay home most of the time.

“Chemo makes your ability to fight off infection really low,” Matthews said. “I wasn’t supposed to be around children or in closed-off public places.”

Matthews went into remission for three and a half years.

She went back to work as an interpreter for Fairfax County for just a few months before she relapsed in the summer of 2008. Doctors told her that her best option for long-term remission was a bone marrow transplant. Previous tests indicated that Matthews' sister, Laura, would be an ideal donor.

Matthews and her family determined that the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle would be the best place for her to receive the transplant.

“It’s really what they are known for,” Matthews said.

As she was leaving for Seattle that summer, neighbors in the English Hills community lined the street with yellow balloons in a show of solidarity. A surprise party awaited her.

“It was so touching,” Matthews said. “It felt great to know everyone had rallied around my family. They had sent us cards and homemade dinners. They were just really supportive.”

Matthews went to Seattle saying she felt her neighbors were on her side, and the bone marrow transplant procedure was a success. Since then, Matthews said she has been able to move on with her life and help others who find themselves with the same diagnosis.

She now works with the Chantilly-based Side-Out Foundation, which raises money for breast cancer research.

Earlier this year, a friend nominated Matthews to be the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Woman of the Year for the National Capital Area Chapter.

She and 10 other women are competing to raise the most funds in honor of the society’s Boy & Girl of the Year, Ryan, 7, and Molly, 6, both of whom are also leukemia survivors. Ten men also compete for the 'Man of the Year' title.

Matthews hopes to raise $50,000 in her campaign, which began late March and will end on June 11. She is raising those funds through special events and a website where people can send in donations.

Matthews’ younger sister and Morgan, her grade-school friend, are assisting Matthews in the campaign.

“We are trying to get the word out in every way we can,” Morgan said.

Details on the upcoming events are still in the works. The drive will culminate in a gala and auction at the Ritz Carlton in D.C. in June. 

“It doesn’t matter if I win, the point is that I have helped other patients,” Matthews said. “I don’t know where I would be without the Lymphoma society.”

To find out more about Matthew's campaign, see her website, or follow her on Facebook, YouTube, or Twitter.