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Suleika Jaouad, the New York Times bestselling author of 'Between Two Kingdoms', and wife of Grammy-winning musician Jon Batiste, has been battling leukemia for a second time.
At the age of 22, she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia and underwent a bone marrow transplant. It relapsed in July 2022, and since then, she has been undergoing chemo and several other treatments.
Suleika Jaouad’s leukemia battle
Jaouad, 35, first battled leukemia in her 20s and underwent several treatments. The treatments gave positive results, but she again relapsed in her early 30s. During her battle, she had a bone marrow transplant and other painful treatments, with her husband Jon Batiste beside her all this while.
In March 2022, speaking with Vogue magazine, the best-seller author spoke about her battle with leukemia:
"I, today, am actually doing well. I believe I’m on day plus-32 post-transplant and I’ve been out of the hospital for almost exactly a week."
Jaouad added that she learned that her cancer was back in November last year.
“Not just my world, but my partner’s world and my family’s world completely imploded” – Suleika Jaouad
Jaouad also told the magazine that when her oncologist called to give her the news, she was in tears.
"It’s so incredibly rare, I think less than 1% of patients, according to my doctor, relapse 10 years after a bone marrow transplant, she said."
Suleika Jaouad added:
"Not just my world, but my partner’s world and my family’s world completely imploded. We had a weekend to pack up all of our things, to find temporary homes for our dogs, to find a borrowed apartment in New York City and for me to begin chemo."
Suleika Jaouad health update
As of now, Jaouad is doing well but is frequently visiting the hospital. She underwent a second bone marrow transplant, which she says had more complications than the first time.
In a previous interview with The New York Times in 2022, Jaouad also said that she had experienced some of the worst physical pains of her life during the second bone marrow transplant.
However, she feels “continuously amazed and grateful, as she has had her partner and family beside her all the time”. Jaouad also shared that at the ripe old age of 33, she got her first walker.
Suleika Jaouad is very active on social media and regularly updates her fans about her health and life. Recently, on her 35th birthday, Jaouad shared a series of beautiful pictures of herself and her loved ones celebrating the special day in Switzerland.
She captioned the pictures:
"34 is the new 34. Although I was supposed to be turning 35, I would be sticking with 34-a stance not motivated by vanity of fear or aging, but because so much of the last year felt like a lost year”.
