One Grand Strand woman hopes to spread awareness about a rare form of cancer

MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) - One Grand Strand woman is on a mission to spread awareness about a rare disease that almost took her life.

Many people hear the word leukemia and think it only affects children.

Jessica McGee said she thought the same thing until 2018 when doctors diagnosed her with a rare form of the disease called Chronic Myeloid Leukemia.

CML is an incurable cancer of the blood and bone marrow, and many people can go years without any signs or symptoms.

McGee said for her, it was night sweats and feeling sluggish at work.

Three years after being diagnosed, she ended up in hospice care for six months.

She said it was one of the darkest times in her life, but she was determined to make it out and make a difference.

“I just mentally said this cannot win,” McGee said. “I have to be better than this. This cannot take me out. So, I’m trying to be that voice and stand out and say we matter.”

Now, McGee is working to start a nonprofit to raise awareness about the disease and hopes to raise money to go towards research.

“I just felt like I have to make a change before I leave this earth,” McGee said. “You ask people, and they’re like, ‘I’ve never heard of it,’ and that’s because it’s not educated on.”

September 22 is World CML Day, and the Myrtle Beach Sky Wheel is joining the cause by lighting up orange to help spread awareness.

Copyright 2023 WMBF. All rights reserved.