Tara
The following story is from an interview with Tara Dunning, a patient at PSCC.
A walk-in clinic thought I had allergies. Then they said it was either TB or AIDS. PSCC diagnosed it as Stage IV Hodgkin's Disease.
As a young woman of just 23, Tara had been getting treatment at a walk-in clinic for symptoms that led them to believe she had allergies. After 4 months and no improvement they did further tests and were concerned that she either had TB or AIDS. Finally, they did chest X-rays which revealed massively enlarged lymph nodes in her chest. Tara was referred to Puget Sound Cancer Centers and they made the diagnosis of Hodgkin's Disease and quickly did all necessary staging studies. She was a very high-risk patient with 5 out of 7 risk factors on the international prognostic index, a situation that called for prompt and aggressive treatment.
"Within a week of the diagnosis I was in treatment," stated Tara. Dr. Rosenshein immediately gave me a lot of confidence, in spite of the fact I was at Stage 4 and high risk. He said it was still very curable.
Dr. Rosenshein suggested a specific approach for high-risk patients pioneered in Germany. He checked in with one of the big hospitals in Seattle to see if they had any experience with this protocol. They hadn't. Tara said, The fact that the people at PSCC were more up on the latest approaches gave me an even stronger feeling that I was in the right place.
Tara's case required a very aggressive regimen, yet she had extremely low blood cell counts at the start of treatment. This meant that the balance of the medications in her treatment was very delicate. She required close monitoring by the people of PSCC. Communication was key. Tara explained, I really appreciated the way that Dr. Rosenshein listened to me and I felt like I was an important part of my treatment. He was great about explaining everything and answering all of my questions. From the beginning I felt they were really caring, attentive and on top of things.”
I was also lucky that my aunt is an oncology nurse. She did a lot of research that reinforced the approach we were taking, Tara continued. We found out people travel from all over to come to PSCC for treatment. I was really fortunate because I didn't have to travel far at all to go to my appointments.”
Dr. Rosenshein got to know me really well,” Tara said. “During my last treatment I hadn’t been drinking enough fluids. He kept asking me ‘Are you okay? Are you sure?’ and that’s when I fainted. He said, ‘You must not want to leave us,’ and that led to an extra three-day hospital stay. But that shows how well he could read me.”
She continued, “I’ve really gotten to know the people at PSCC. The oncology nurses know all about me and I know a lot about them and their lives. They make it personal. And that kind of relationship is not what you expect in medical care. It just makes it so much better.”
Tara thought a moment and said, “I learned a lot through this experience. I learned that keeping a positive outlook is really important. I learned that you have to be able to laugh at even the most serious situations. And I learned how important it is to have lots of support. I got all of these things from the people of PSCC.”
Tara has been successfully treated at the Edmonds PSCC for over three years and remains in complete remission.