In December of 2007, our daughter started having intermittent low grade abdominal pains that she described as "cramps." We took her to her pediatrician, but without clearer symptoms or distress, we were told to monitor her condition. On January 10, 2008, her cramps worsened, and we returned to the pediatrician who expressed concerns that she might have an appendicitis. We took her to Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego for what was thought to be an emergent appendectomy. Once inside, the surgeon found that the appendix was encapsulated, but not the cause of the problem. She removed a swollen lymph node from around Taylor's intestine and said that she feared lymphoma. Five days later, lymphoma was ruled out as it did not appear to be cancer on the stain. The ten weeks that followed were filled with visits to the doctors, referrals to specialists, CT, MRI, X-Ray, and innumerable other tests and all involved were looking toward an infection of some sort as the cause. Frustrated by the lack of answers, we sought another opinion from a friend who was part of the UCSD pathology team. Markers were found that indicated a malignancy, and another biopsy was performed. This time they found the cancer.
Taylor was officially diagnosed on March 24, 2008 and began chemotherapy on April 1.
Because she knew that losing her hair was a probability, she chose to donate her long, beautiful curls so that another child could have a prosthetic wig made from them.
She decided to shave her head mid-May because her hair was falling out so
fast. It's starting to grow back a bit, but is still pretty thin.
Taylor was released from the hospital on April 5th,
but since then, has been hospitalized six additional times
including a two-week admission from 5/27/08 - 6/13/08. She is home now and trying to regain her strength. She is currently
getting a short break from her treatment to allow her system to
gain some strength before going on to another aggressive series
of treatments. She has had some other effects/symptoms that are tough to deal
with such as constant severe headaches and a terrifying dystonic
reaction to one of the drugs, but she is staying strong and just taking one day at a
time. Each day brings more trials and more successes. Her recent
PET scan shows that the chemotherapy she has had so far has done
its job and there are no more active cancer nodes, but there is
still a very long road of chemotherapy ahead to be sure that
there are no pre-cancer cells lurking and to protect the rest of
her organs and other lymph nodes from any type of
recurrence. Her estimated total treatment time is two
years.
She has been an inspiration to all around her epitomizing grace, humor, and hope in the face of such adversity. Her new motto has become, “I may have cancer, but cancer doesn’t have me.”
Through her strength, we all have hope.
About
Lymphoma: Lymphomais
a general term for a group of cancers that originate in the
lymphatic system.It occurs when a type of white blood cell called a
“lymphocyte” becomes malignant and begins to multiply more
rapidly than normal cells, crowding them out and creating tumors
in the lymph nodes or other parts of the body.
Lymphoma
is considered one of a group of blood cancers that
also includes leukemia and myeloma.All three involve malignant changes to blood cells in the
bone marrow or lymphatic tissues.These changes, which result in the rapid growth and
accumulation of cancerous blood cells, interfere with the
production of healthy blood cells, compromising the body’s
ability to protect itself from infection.No one knows for sure what causes blood cancers, but they
are believed to mostly stem from an acquired genetic injury to
the DNA of a single cell which becomes malignant.Fifty-seven percent of all blood cancers are lymphoma.
For more information on lymphoma, contact the Leukemia and
Lymphoma Society at www.lls.org.
In December of 2007, our daughter started having intermittent low grade abdominal pains that she described as "cramps." We took her to her pediatrician, but without clearer symptoms or distress, we were told to monitor her condition. On January 10, 2008, her cramps worsened, and we returned to the pediatrician who expressed concerns that she might have an appendicitis. We took her to Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego for what was thought to be an emergent appendectomy. Once inside, the surgeon found that the appendix was encapsulated, but not the cause of the problem. She removed a swollen lymph node from around Taylor's intestine and said that she feared lymphoma. Five days later, lymphoma was ruled out as it did not appear to be cancer on the stain. The ten weeks that followed were filled with visits to the doctors, referrals to specialists, CT, MRI, X-Ray, and innumerable other tests and all involved were looking toward an infection of some sort as the cause. Frustrated by the lack of answers, we sought another opinion from a friend who was part of the UCSD pathology team. Markers were found that indicated a malignancy, and another biopsy was performed. This time they found the cancer.
Taylor was officially diagnosed on March 24, 2008 and began chemotherapy on April 1.
Because she knew that losing her hair was a probability, she chose to donate her long, beautiful curls so that another child could have a prosthetic wig made from them.
She decided to shave her head mid-May because her hair was falling out so
fast. It's starting to grow back a bit, but is still pretty thin.
She has been an inspiration to all around her epitomizing grace, humor, and hope in the face of such adversity. Her new motto has become, “I may have cancer, but cancer doesn’t have me.”
Through her strength, we all have hope.
