Plot Twist: Cancer
Eva
“Life; To Breathe”
She’s 17 years old. She had plans to explore the world. We had plans to watch her fly. We didn’t expect cancer. But, I guess no one does.
Most Recent News
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Most Recent News -
The biopsy went well today! They had a hard time putting Eva under — the anesthesiologist says she must have “the red hair gene” (she does, she was a strawberry blond as a little girl). So they had to give her more medication that what is normal, and she woke up quicker than she should have. Her blood pressure also dropped, so they kept her and watched her for a little a longer. But we were able to take her home today. Now we just wait for the results of the biopsy.
The nurse, as Eva is waking up: “Your vitals look beautiful!”
Eva: “Was there any doubt?”
When Eva was a little girl and fighting me tooth and nail on everything, I knew God have given her a strong, defiant spirit for a reason. This, it seems, is part of the reason. She’s a wildflower, with a strong inner fire. She’s going to win.
May 23, 2025
Eva first came to me complaining about lumps in her neck and armpit. I told her not to worry about it, they were lymph nodes, and they swell when people get sick. It might take a month or so to go away, I said. I figured she was probably getting over something.
April 2024
The lumps hadn’t gone away yet, so I took Eva to our Nurse Practitioner. He thought it might be lymphadenitis, so he put her on antibiotics and told us to come back in 6 months if there wasn’t any improvement.
Early 2025
The lymph nodes were still swollen, so we went back to the Nurse Practitioner. He was now very concerned, and sent in orders for a sonogram and a biopsy. They put her on 2 more antibiotics, which did nothing.
Symptoms now include:
Painless swollen lymph nodes on the left side of her neck and armpit
A new swollen lymph node on the right side of her neck
Loss of 18 lbs without trying
Exhaustion
Occasional Dizziness
Anemic
High White Blood Cell count
Bruises easily
July 2024
Eva had her first biopsy. It was a fine needle biopsy, which we would later learn was not ideal. We waited anxiously for several days for the results to come back. The following Tuesday, we received a notice that the results were suspicious of Hodgkins Lymphoma, but non-diagnostic. They saw scattered large atypical cells consistent with Reed-Sternberg cells. They sent sent the sample to another lab.
April 2, 2025
Saw the Nurse Practitioner again. He couldn’t diagnose it as cancer, but told us there was a 90% chance it was. He consulted with a local oncologist who said there was still a chance that it was benign. The oncologist seemed confused why they used a fine needle biopsy because it doesn’t provide a large enough sample to diagnose Hodgkins. The Nurse Practitioner sent in a referral to Children’s Medical Center in Dallas and MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. MD Anderson denied the referral because Eva is under 18. But I’m kind of glad of that — I wanted to go to Children’s. I trust them.
April 11, 2025
Eva’s first appointment with a Pediatric Oncologist was today at Children’s Medical Center on the 6th floor: Blood Disorders and Cancer. Nana went with us since David just started a new job this week and couldn’t take off work. I really like this Oncologist — she’s a kind lady who took her time to explain things in ways we could understand, and answered all the questions the best she could. She believes it’s cancer, she just doesn’t know what kind of cancer it is. She is having the biopsy sample reviewed by Children’s own pathologist, and is hopeful they may be able to make a diagnosis without another biopsy. If another biopsy is needed, it will have to be a surgery to take out an entire lymph node. They will likely insert a port at that time.
A new symptom:
Eva says that when she would lay down to sleep, She would feel a painful pinching in the lymph nodes. The pinching stopped when she sat up. This was happening for awhile, but seems to have stopped for now.
This, along with the reports of dizziness and exhaustion, concerned the Oncologist enough to send her down the 1st floor for an xray of the chest. She was concerned that the lymph nodes in her chest might be swollen and pressing on her heart and lungs. If that were the case, she was going to admit Eva into the hospital so they could keep an eye on her. The xray showed that the cancer was in her chest, but not large enough to cause problems yet. We’re supposed to watch her, though, and call them if there’s any sign of Eva having trouble breathing.
Next steps:
The Oncologist will wait on the results from pathology and will also confer with other doctors. We should have an idea of what’s going to happen next by April 28th — either another biopsy, or a treatment plan. She said: “We have the plans, we just need to know which one to use.”
April 18, 2025
Photo by Ivan Samkov
“Don’t have a lot of words right now, but this is basically where I’m at ...”
The results from the 2nd lab came in. They called it “an interesting case.” The findings were highly suspicious for classic Hodgkin Lymphoma, nodular sclerosis subtype. They recommend another biopsy.
April 16, 2025
The Oncologist called today to let us know that pathology was not able to make a diagnosis with the current biopsy sample. She is going to talk to some surgeons, and Eva will likely need surgery to take out a lymph node. She’s going to call us next Tuesday evening.
April 25, 2025
Eva will be having surgery next Tuesday, May 6, to remove a lymph node for further testing and to put in a chemo port. We will be staying overnight at Children’s.
May 1, 2025
May 6, 2025
Surgery went well! They took out a whole lymph node and should have a big enough sample to do the tests they need to do. The chemo port is now in place. Eva is in a lot of pain, but resting and recovering well.
The lymph node biopsy confirmed the diagnosis: Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma with nodular sclerosis. A PET scan revealed that the cancer is in her spleen and bone marrow. There’s also a mass of lymph nodes over her heart. Since it has spread outside of the lymphatic system, this cancer is Stage 4. She will have 6 rounds of chemo over the next 6-7 months. Whether or not radiation will be needed will be determined after the second round of chemo.
We will be going to Dallas this coming Thursday to prepare for a 5 days of chemo. We will be staying at the Ronald McDonald House.
May 20, 2025
“Never thought I’d be sitting on the other side of a lead wall for an hour because my daughter is being injected with a radioactive tracer, but here we are ...”
May 21, 2025
Another Pathologist has looked over Eva’s scans and believes that the activity seen in the bone marrow may not be cancer. He believes she is only at Stage 3. Chemo has been canceled this weekend, and instead Eva will be getting a bone marrow biopsy. With two respected pathologist looking at the same scan but seeing different results, a biopsy is the only way to determine staging. Stage 3 would mean an easier treatment plan for Eva, so praying for Stage 3!
The biopsy went well today! They had a hard time putting Eva under — the anesthesiologist says she must have “the red hair gene” (she does, she was a strawberry blond as a little girl). So they had to give her more medication that what is normal, and she woke up quicker than she should have. Her blood pressure also dropped, so they kept her and watched her for a little a longer. But we were able to take her home today. Now we just wait for the results of the biopsy.
The nurse, as Eva is waking up: “Your vitals look beautiful!”
Eva: “Was there any doubt?”
When Eva was a little girl and fighting me tooth and nail on everything, I knew God have given her a strong, defiant spirit for a reason. This, it seems, is part of the reason. She’s a wildflower, with a strong inner fire. She’s going to win.