Within 24 hours, Beth was transferred to Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, where she was admitted for a 30-day hospital stay while she underwent an initial round of chemotherapy. With the support of her doctors and nurses at The Princess Margaret, she continued being active, lifting weights, walking 12,000 steps a day, and eating home-cooked food that her husband prepared and brought to her.
“Everything felt personalized at The Princess Margaret. I was able to advocate for myself, and I always felt safe doing so. The nurses… have quite literally saved my life as much as the drugs.”
Beth achieved remission, but nine months after her diagnosis, the cancer came back. After all the progress she’d made, it felt like a gut-punch. But her team had a plan. At The Princess Margaret, there was always a plan. And that made all the difference. Beth needed to get back into remission to qualify for a stem cell transplant, and luckily, three perfect 10/10 donors were found immediately. She started on Blinatumomab (BLINA)—an innovative immunotherapy delivered through a three-pound pump worn for a month at a time. And she felt fantastic on it. No nausea. No weird symptoms. She even found a running vest to hold the pump so she could run with it.
“Each dose cost [thousands of] dollars. I like to joke that it was my most expensive running outfit ever.”
The stem cell transplant was successful and now, almost one year later, her biopsies look excellent. If leukemia doesn’t return by year two she’ll be considered cleared, thanks to groundbreaking innovations in immunotherapy and holistic care that allowed her to keep living her life while undergoing treatment.
“The Princess Margaret gives people miracles, both big and small, every hour of the day…time with your family, friends, time for running, time for baking, time for art, time for the sunrise…all of the things that make us human.”
Thanks to the generosity of donors like you, more patients like Beth can continue to live their lives while being treated for cancer.
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Everything we do is made possible by supporters like you, who help us Carry The Fire for a world free from the fear of cancer.
