Tess was diagnosed with Mixed Cellularity Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma in August of 2023 while she was living in Kansas. After being staged at IIIB and receiving this life-changing diagnosis, Tess had to prepare for the gauntlet of scheduling doctors appointments, dealing with health insurance, mentally preparing for the chemotherapy process, and much more.
By the end of October 2023 Tess had started chemotherapy infusions, and unfortunately found that she had a pretty severe reaction to the chemo. The chemotherapy caused excruciating pain, to the point that she had to be admitted to the hospital with complications of Typhlitis and severe neutropenia for two weeks to get it under control during November 2023. During this time, she had to pause her chemotherapy treatments, and she had a very rough time in the hospital. She lost the rest of her hair, struggled to eat, and had some pretty bad bruising from all of the poking and prodding in the hospital.
By December 2023, Tess was able to get her third infusion started, but ended up back in the hospital due to Covid and neutropenia. She once again had to stop chemo to get her body strong enough to handle it, and had to spend her birthday alone.
By February 2024, Tess was able to resume chemotherapy again, but the pain was still lurking, bringing new neurological problems in its wake. Even though she was surrounded by friends and loved ones from a distance, she struggled a lot with feeling down and alone due to lack of physical support in a foreign state.
In March, Tess was almost finished with her chemotherapy, but was almost completely unable to take herself to appointments due to pain and the cumulative effects of the chemotherapy’s toxicity and the adverse reaction to the Dacarbazine that was part of her treatment. She struggled to eat and sleep, and was in almost constant pain despite her oncologist increasing her pain meds and struggled with basic tasks. Her neurological symptoms continued to worsen and she lost the ability to walk. During this time, her physical support system was suddenly gone, and she spent the first part of April by herself, having to navigate being alone and fighting cancer at the same time. Her sister was able to help when she had begun to completely lose hope, and was able to fly her mom to help take care of her and remove her from her toxic and isolated living situation.
After meeting with her Oncologist after her last PET scan, Tess received the unfortunate news that the cancer had not responded to treatment and was rediagnosed with Refractory Disease. After going through such harsh treatment she was devastated with this information but determined to keep going forward. She was told another biopsy was required to confirm this, followed by intensive chemotherapy and afterwards, a stem cell transplant.
Thankfully, Tess was able to move back to Texas in May of 2024, where she was surrounded by another wonderful support system. Her amazing friend Gabi, a single mother, was able to move her into her own house. She has done a wonderful job of supporting Tess with making sure she's sorted for doctors appointments and is eating and has given her lots of mental and emotional support as well. Shortly afterwards, she met with her new doctor to discuss Stem Cell Transplant and treatment options.
In June 2024, Tess met with her new Oncologist, and was due to start two rounds of salvage (ICE) chemotherapy. She underwent another PET scan and biopsy which confirmed progressive persistent Hodgkin’s Disease.This treatment would require her to be hospitalized for at least a week each time so she can be monitored under the watchful eye of the doctors while receiving blood transfusions and ensuring she remains stable throughout the harsh process.
In July 2024 Tess started immunotherapy (Keytruda), and was also administered Leuprolide and put on early menopause in the hopes to protect her fertility. The more aggressive ICE chemotherapy has a 25% chance of infertility, and BEAM chemotherapy that comes with Stem Cell Transplantation makes these odds much worse due to total body irradiation and the high doses of chemotherapy in full intensity conditioning. Early menopause and loss of fertility can bring a myriad of complications including bone density loss. Tess has high hopes that her fertility will remain intact despite the odds against her.
By August 2024, she was finally able to start the ICE chemotherapy, and was admitted to the hospital for treatment. Unfortunately, she had another bad experience and received inadequate care at the hospital, and was unable to receive treatment there. Her Oncologist/Hematologist decided the best course was to continue the immunotherapy, and give it time to see if her body would respond to the treatment.
Now, in January 2025, Tess was unable to afford her PET scan due to insurance renewal, and had to cancel even though her condition has been rapidly worsening and she has yet to be re-staged. Unfortunately, she has not responded to the immunotherapy, and has been experiencing seizures as well as her previous symptoms. She is due to receive ICE chemotherapy at another hospital as soon as possible.
Luckily, she had the strength to come to her wonderful friends for help, and now we are starting this medical fundraiser to help pay for appointments, treatments, and daily living expenses, as well as medical debt. Your generous support will allow Tess to continue her fight against cancer without the added stress of financial hardship.
