The cells would be genetically modified and then put back in my body, where they would hopefully attack the cancer cells. During the trial, doctors would harvest my T-cells, part of my immune system. He told me about a clinical trial using chimeric antigen receptor T-cells that could help me. My worries were compounded by a doctor who was all doom and gloom.
I remember talking to a therapist saying, 'Is this it?' A doctor almost kept me from doing an experimental treatment I was only 21, but I worried I was dying. Doctors in Colorado couldn't get me back into remission. The initial treatments went well, but I quickly relapsed. As I navigated the next few months of treatment, I enrolled in online courses, doing remote learning long before it became common. Classes were off the table since chemotherapy would leave me immunocompromised. I had no idea I would be in the hospital for more than a month.Īfter more bloodwork, doctors explained my initial treatment protocol would last eight months. When the doctor told me to come into the hospital that night, I packed four changes of underwear and my homework. My family had a history of cancer, but I was only 19.
I went to the hospital that night and didn't leave for a month Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.
