Mom was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma in February 2018. She had radiation treatments and 6 rounds of chemotherapy every 3 weeks for treatment. After last chemo session was completed in the end of June 2018, she had PET scan and labs done and was told she was in remission. We celebrated this awesome news and mom started to live her life again, slowly, but started to get there. In October 2018, mom started having some headaches and increased fatigue but all of her follow-up labs with her oncologist were ok. In the beginning of November mom started having some pain in her rib area and was checked out for heart issues but everything came back normal. The following week, mom was seen in the clinic and had some tests and a CT scan done which revealed an enlarged spleen. She was given some acute medications and sent home. On November 21st, she had labs done with her oncologist in Grand Forks. But over Thanksgiving mom's health took a turn and she was having multiple symptoms and weakness to the point of not being able to walk. On November 26th, she again saw her oncologist who referred her to the University of Minnesota Health in Minneapolis because of her lab work. We took her there right away and she was admitted to the medical oncology floor. After multiple tests being completed, we met with her team of doctors and was told mom has B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). Unfortunately, due to the seriousness of this diagnosis mom will have to stay in the hospital at U of M to receive weekly chemotherapy treatments for 4-6 weeks. Due to the chance of the Leukemia cells moving through her body, in order to protect her spinal cord and brain she will have to have two chemotherapy injections to her spine. These have been some challenging years for mom, but she says she is going to fight this.
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