Honored Hero
Meet our 2024 Honored Hero Allie
Message to Donors:
“Thank you so much!! I took part in research studies that saved my life, and it couldn’t have been possible without your vital funds and the commitment of researchers/doctors who felt my recovery was as important as I did. Every single donor has contributed to my life, and I hope to pay it forward in my future work as a pediatric oncologist.”
My Story:
In the spring of my sophomore year at St. Olaf College, I was playing soccer and working towards my chemistry major and felt exhausted. I thought it was just normal college tiredness, mono, etc, but it didn’t get better and kept getting worse. When I came home that summer and saw my doctor, we ordered 6 different rounds of labs, all of which came back negative. After all the negative tests, I am super grateful my doctor persisted and took my symptoms seriously until we had an answer.
She referred me to an ENT who ordered a lymph node biopsy in July 2019, which came back positive for Nodular Sclerosis Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Immediately I had my port placed and started treatment, which is when I met Dr. Rodriguez at Aurora Medical Center in Summit, WI and he became a trusted partner in my treatment. For the first semester of my junior year, I was not able to be in-person for classes, but I was able to take 2 classes online through UW Milwaukee to stay on track for graduation. I finished my treatment on 12/31/19 and was back at St. Olaf full-time on 1/6/20, shadowing oncologists in Minneapolis.
Just when things started getting better for me, the whole world shut down in March and I had to leave school, AGAIN, after only 8-weeks being back at school in-person. While at home taking remote classes, I felt compelled to give back during the pandemic, so I decided to work as a CNA.
We were finally able to be back on campus for my fall semester senior year (2020-2021), though most of our classes were still virtual. As we were starting preseason training for soccer in the spring, I started struggling to breathe while exercising and I noticed that my night sweats had come back. Even though many people told me that I only had an 8% chance of relapse, I immediately felt like something was wrong in my body and knew my cancer was back. I went to the hospital by my school to get some labs and a CT scan done. When the results came back, they wouldn’t tell me much but said I needed to go home and see my oncologist for a PET scan. After the PET scan, I got the call on 3/22/21 that my Hodgkin’s lymphoma had returned.
I was so sick of having to miss school, and all I wanted to do was graduate on time with my friends. Since the cancer was more serious due to its relapse, I had to transfer my care to Froedtert. I started pembro+GVD and drove up to St. Olaf every other week to try and catch up in classes. Thankfully my teachers were flexible and I was able to do a lot of my classes online, including dissecting a sheep’s brain in my laundry room. I was so happy when I got the okay from my oncologist, Dr. Fenske, to go to my graduation. As long as I was able to give myself shots to help my body produce more cells in preparation for my stem cells to be harvested days later.
After graduation, I returned home and harvested stem cells and went straight into my BEAM conditioning regimen. On 6/18/21 I had my autologous stem cell transplant and celebrated my new “birthday”. I did most of my treatment as an outpatient, where my mom drove me to and from Froedtert every day, for about a month. Unfortunately, I got a fever 6 days after transplant and was admitted to Froedtert, where my mom came and visited me every day. I was released after 5 days and spent the next few months trying to regain my strength/get back into a normal routine.
In September 2021, I had my first PET scan since the transplant, and it came back good (a few random spots that they didn’t know what it was). While in med school at Froedtert, Dr. Fenske and I had been doing research on Hodgkin’s treatment and decided to do 16 rounds of brentuximab in hopes of extending my remission. I have technically been in remission since September of 2021 and at the time of Scenic Shore 2024, I will (hopefully) be celebrating my 3rd stem cell transplant anniversary.
My Treatments:
-ABVD x 4 treatments (2 rounds) started 8/1/19
-AVD x 8 treatments (4 rounds) finished 12/31/19
-“Remission” from 12/31/19 – 3/22/21
-Pembrolizumab + GVD (4 rounds) 4/9/21- 5/25/21
-Stem cells harvested 6/2/21
-BEAM stem cell conditioning regimen 6/11/21-6/16/21
-Stem cell transplant/”Day 0? 6/18/21
-Brentuximab vedotin 10/18/21 – 10/7/22
How Has LLS Helped:
-Peer to Peer support groups
-Used the Information Resource Center (IRC) throughout treatment
-LLS funded the research for many of my treatments and transplant
My Interests:
-I am in school studying to be a pediatric oncologist
-I have 2 cats: Flora and Michelangelo
-I am engaged and will be getting married on June 15, 2024