Story: Phillip Tutor | Photo: Betsy Compton
Her first school closed. Then doctors diagnosed her with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. But the sophomore is excelling as an online student.
There鈥檚 an unexpected comfort in Julie Payne鈥檚 voice, a soothing quality amid a slight Southern rhythm that belies her age. If you weren鈥檛 aware that providence had so recently jumbled her life, you鈥檇 believe her first semester at the 乐播传媒 has been nothing short of exquisite.
She loves 乐播传媒. She speaks of it in dulcet tones, as if she鈥檚 adored the university from birth, though that鈥檚 not true.
鈥淭his place is a hidden treasure,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know it was this nice here.鈥�
Payne鈥檚 voice raises, her eyes focus. She鈥檚 sincere. But what is true is that this 19-year 乐播传媒 sophomore from Bibb County longs for full immersion in Livingston鈥檚 campus experience: meals at the Caf, a dorm in Hoover Apartments, Saturdays at Tiger Stadium.
Kismet, though, is multidimensional. It offers fortuitousness and disappointment. It also can be unrelenting, as Payne learned this spring when finishing her second semester at Judson College in Marion, Alabama.
Doctors diagnosed her with stage 4 Hodgkin鈥檚 lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic and immune systems. And Judson鈥檚 finances became so strained that the historic 183-year-old school would soon close.
Unrelated. But nonetheless unrelenting, indeed.
So the president of Judson鈥檚 freshman class who fell in love with Livingston spent her first semester this fall at 乐播传媒 as an online student in Bibb County, taking classes in public speaking, American literature, American history and art. Her bloated schedule of chemotherapy treatments — starting May 13, ending Oct. 14, two rounds a month for six months — took precedence over living in Hoover Apartments.
鈥淚 had so many complications,鈥� Payne said, 鈥渋f something happens again and I have to be admitted (to the hospital), I don鈥檛 want to miss school, I just needed to be online.鈥�
Additional treatments may restrict Payne to online courses in the spring semester, too.
鈥淥f course, being 19 she wants to be here; I want her to be here,鈥� said her mother, Terri Payne. 鈥淲hen she moved into her dorm (at Judson) as a freshman, I wanted to grab ahold of her leg and say, 鈥楧on鈥檛 go, don鈥檛 go.鈥�
鈥淏ut now — go! Because she didn’t get to be a 19-year-old. I want her to live her life and be here like she should be.鈥�
Beyond the details of her last few months, the soul of Payne鈥檚 story revolves around her resilience and the relationship she has forged with 乐播传媒 administrators and faculty. Hers is not a myopic story of an ailing sophomore. It is a tale that unveils a student鈥檚 willpower and a regional university鈥檚 willingness to help her navigate an arduous path.
鈥淪he鈥檚 just a fantastic girl,鈥� said Brenda Jones, 乐播传媒鈥檚 transfer admissions counselor. 鈥淪he鈥檚 beautiful, she has a 4.0 (GPA), she鈥檚 the most humble student I have ever met. She doesn鈥檛 know she鈥檚 pretty, she doesn’t know she鈥檚 smart, she鈥檚 100 percent a rock star.
鈥淚f there ever was a spokesperson for what this school is, I鈥檝e just watched multiple departments come together when they found out what was going on.鈥�
The search for a diagnosis
In Centreville, Bibb County High School sits just off the western edge of the Cahaba River that flows nearly 200 miles through Alabama鈥檚 heartland. It鈥檚 there where Payne played alto sax in the school band and served as a majorette for the purple-and-gold-clad Choctaws. She dreamed of becoming a ninth-grade biology teacher, an inspiration drawn from her senior-year AP biology teacher who 鈥渕ade me love the subject,鈥� she said. She also wanted to attend the University of Montevallo, but was dissatisfied with the school鈥檚 scholarship offer.
鈥淪he鈥檚 just a fantastic girl. She鈥檚 beautiful, she has a 4.0 (GPA), she鈥檚 the most humble student I have ever met. She doesn鈥檛 know she鈥檚 pretty, she doesn’t know she鈥檚 smart, she鈥檚 100 percent a rock star.”
–Brenda Jones, 乐播传媒鈥檚 transfer admissions counselor
A friend suggested Payne consider Judson, the private women鈥檚 college about 30 minutes from Centreville. She was intrigued by its diminutive size, preferring that over Alabama鈥檚 larger campuses. 鈥淚 went and toured Judson, everybody was very nice, it was very personable and I really liked it,鈥� she said.
One semester in, Payne began feeling 鈥渙ff鈥� on the day she celebrated her 19th birthday in mid-February. Already tired from an 18-hour class schedule and work-study assignments, she lived to nap. She skipped lunch to nap. She skipped dinner to nap. People noticed, including her mother. She began a recurring low-grade fever but was unbothered. It might be a sinus infection, she thought. Then she found a swollen lymph node on the right side of her neck.
鈥淢ine has never done this before,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t was probably the size of a golf ball to begin with.鈥�
So Payne did what most 19-year-olds might think appropriate. She sought advice from her Judson biology professor, who was blunt: go to the doctor.
From there, Payne and her family embarked on a months-long saga of repeated hospital visits and medicines that did not improve her health. While home on weekends, Payne would go to the Bibb Medical Center emergency room. 鈥淭he first time they assumed it was an infection and they gave me a shot of something and they gave me an antibiotic,鈥� she said.
She rested and returned to Judson. But the fever and swollen lymph node remained.
A second ER visit didn鈥檛 improve matters. Blood tests came back inconclusive. Doctors prescribed another antibiotic, but that didn鈥檛 ward off the fever or exhaustion. The swollen lymph node, though reduced, remained a concern.
It wasn鈥檛 until a third ER visit that a doctor sensed the gravity. 鈥淗e said, 鈥榊ou need to get out of here, you need to go somewhere else,鈥欌�� Payne said. 鈥淗e said, 鈥業 don鈥檛 want to tell you anything that鈥檚 not true, but I want you to actually go somewhere where they can test you for more advanced things.鈥欌��
Payne, a straight-A student who loathed the idea of falling behind in class, returned to Judson with a referral to an ear, nose and throat specialist. Her health, though, didn鈥檛 cooperate. Along with the unflagging fevers and exhaustion, she began experiencing chest pains she thought were linked to a Covid-19 diagnosis that spring.
Back at the ER, scans revealed 鈥渂ig stuff鈥� and swollen areas within her chest, she said. 鈥淭hat was the point where I was like, 鈥極h, God, I鈥檓 nervous now,鈥欌�� she said.
In mid-April, a surgeon removed two of Payne鈥檚 lymph nodes during a biopsy in Tuscaloosa County. Before she woke up after the procedure, the surgeon sat down with her mother.
鈥淗e said, 鈥業 want to tell you a story about a girl that I met 20 years ago, and I鈥檓 not telling you this to scare you, but I just want you to be aware,鈥欌�� Terri Payne said. The girl had Hodgkin鈥檚 lymphoma, he said, and still sends him cards and letters of thanks.
Not wanting to alarm her daughter, Payne鈥檚 mom waited before recounting that conversation.
The connection with 乐播传媒
Payne didn鈥檛 have one life-altering situation; she had two. And both reached full boil this spring. Doctors were beginning to zero in on her correct diagnosis, and she was deciding which school she wanted to attend this fall.
She preferred West Alabama. Of that, she was sure.
鈥淏efore I was too sick to tour, I came here and met Brenda Jones, and she鈥檚 the sweetest lady I have ever met. She鈥檚 kind of the initial reason I fell in love with 乐播传媒,鈥� Payne said. 鈥淎nd then I toured the campus, and I was like, 鈥楾his place is really nice, this is awesome, I really want to be here.鈥欌��
Jones wanted her at 乐播传媒, too — and had great news when they finished the tour. Payne was eligible for an INSPIRE scholarship and 乐播传媒鈥檚 Presidential Transfer Award scholarship, but the application materials were due that day.
Payne, the 4.0 student at Judson, got to work, pulling out her laptop and writing the required essay as her mother drove home to Centreville. 鈥淚 loved the school so much,鈥� she said.
Scholarship recipients also had to interview with faculty, so Payne participated in an online Zoom meeting the day after her biopsy procedure. She knew it went poorly. 鈥淚 felt like I really screwed it up,鈥� she said. She was sore, 鈥渁ll stitched up and gross,鈥� and wore a sweatshirt instead of interview attire.
She got the scholarship. But her health crisis was only intensifying.
On April 20, she received a preliminary diagnosis of Hodgkin鈥檚 lymphoma and a referral to an oncologist at . One test begat another: a positron emission tomography (PET) scan, a pulmonary function test and an echocardiogram, all needed in advance of chemotherapy treatments. A technician noticed an irregularity on one of the results. And what seemed to be routine oncology tests became a day of fear — a final diagnosis of stage 4 Hodgkin鈥檚 lymphoma and fluid buildup around her heart, which had been causing her chest pains.
Doctors told her to pick when she wanted emergency surgery, now or the next morning.
Payne chose now.
That night, doctors intentionally broke several bones to get inside her chest and drain fluid away from her heart, with a temporary tube installed to drain additional fluid in the coming days. Twice more this summer doctors removed fluid that had pooled around her lungs.
Doctors told Payne on July 8 that she was in remission. Classes at 乐播传媒 started in August. And her chemotherapy treatments ended in October, creating hope that she could live in Livingston in the spring and enjoy the campus experience she craves. She was symptom-free and optimistic. But a November PET scan showed new abnormalities — 鈥渉ypermetabolic activity,鈥� Payne said — that may require more aggressive chemotherapy treatments in 2022.
Payne鈥檚 mother admits the scan results were a shock, another sign of the unrelenting stress. But her daughter鈥檚 sincerity returns when asked about succeeding as a 乐播传媒 student amid chemotherapy treatments and the weariness that seems to have no end.
鈥淢y professors have been very nice and very accommodating,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t hasn’t really hindered my ability to turn in my work at all. I鈥檓 one of those persons who want to be on time, I want to turn in everything in on time, I鈥檓 a 4.0 student still.鈥�
Her voice raises, her eyes focus.
She鈥檚 convincing when she speaks.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been fine,鈥� she said.