Ending Cancer Treatments Was the Best Christmas Present Ever

My daughter-in-law completed a clinical trial at Mayo Clinic

Photo of a young woman lying in hospital bed, waiting for treatment. From author’s collection.

This year, I received the best Christmas present ever. My daughter-in-law completed the last of her cancer treatments.

“Cancer update! I finished my last cancer treatment today! And so far, treatment results seem promising!” She announced, along with a victory sign, to the numerous friends and family members supporting her during this journey.

For the past year, Katelyn* has participated in a clinical trial at Mayo Clinic. The research project accepted a maximum of 63 participants for a novel cancer vaccine never before tried on humans, and she applied to be part of the study soon after discovering she suffered from a type of indolent (slow growing) non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

“The drug might help, but if it doesn’t, I’ll be helping science,” Katelyn said, revealing her characteristic unselfishness and her desire to make the world a better place.

Something wasn’t right

The cancer diagnosis was an accidental discovery, but I’m surprised now at how often I felt something wasn’t right. My daughter-in-law was sick almost every time we visited, with some cold or other illness she said she had “caught from the…