Love helps to overcome rare lymphoma, an aggressive blood cancer
In March 2017, Edward Harley and Cassandra Hensley flew home to celebrate their engagement with their families in Harvey, Ill. The young couple was on cloud nine.
When Harley’s mom, Victoria Edwards, hugged her son, she immediately knew something was wrong. “He had lost so much weight,” she said. “I felt like I was hugging bones.”
Harley had been experiencing stomach problems while away at college in Florida. ”I had persistent dull pain,” he said. “I blamed it on too much fast food and typical college life.”
At home, the 21-year-old continued to get sicker and soon went to the emergency department at Ingalls Memorial Hospital.
A series of abdominal scans and a biopsy led to a diagnosis of Burkitt lymphoma, a rare and highly aggressive blood cancer.
“Cancer had hit us at our happiest moment,” Hensley said.
Eddie's story
Burkitt lymphoma, a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), starts in the B cells of a person’s immune system. While the rapidly growing tumor can be fatal if untreated, intensive chemotherapy can bring long-term survival.
Kimberly Kruczek, DO, an oncologist on Ingalls’ medical staff, consulted with Cancer survivor Anthony Rizzo is teaming up with the Chicago Tribune, along with the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation, Mariano’s and the University of Chicago Medicine, in a campaign to raise money for cancer research and support for families as they fight cancer together. Tremendous strides have been made in the treatment of lymphoma — a group of blood cancers that begins in the white blood cells that fight infection in the body. UChicago Medicine lymphoma experts are among the first in the nation to offer innovative treatment options, including CAR T-cell therapy.Cancer Can't Compete
Lymphoma care