Stem Cell Transplant Gives Young Mom a New Lease on Life
Since 2021, Ashlee Belvill has claimed the entire second week of January as her ‘birthday week.’ While some think weeklong birthday celebrations are excessive, Ashlee is one of a select few who is entitled to the added celebration; this week not only marks the day she was born – January 19, but it also marks her ‘rebirthday.’ Because on January 14, 2020, Ashlee (then 28) received a stem cell transplant with the help of the HealthONE Colorado Blood Cancer Institute (CBCI) team. The lifesaving transplant was performed to treat Hodgkin Lymphoma and gave the young mother a new lease on life.
Just a small lump
“I first felt a small lump in my neck in January 2019,” Ashlee recalls. “I didn't go to the doctor right away because I hadn’t had health problems and I felt fine—well what I thought was fine.” Despite Ashlee’s attempts to ignore it, the lump, which was located on the left side of her neck along her collarbone, stayed put and even increased in size.
A technician at a veterinary hospital, Ashlee’s coworkers began encouraging her to get the growth checked by a doctor. She visited several doctors until one told her what she’d feared: “I saw a doctor who said, yes, this is cancer,” Ashlee explains. “After that I had my first PET scan and they found it was on the left side of my neck, the right side of my neck to the right side of my chest and then in a vertebra in my spine.” It was Hodgkin Lymphoma—a type of cancer that starts in white blood cells called lymphocytes—and it was at that time stage 2.
The diagnosis came in April 2019—the same month her son, LJ, turned one year old. “He is my reason for fighting like I did,” Ashlee shares. “I just thought, ‘I can’t die.’”
Eight rounds of chemo
Ashlee’s treatment plan began with chemotherapy. For this treatment, strong cancer-killing drugs were infused into her body through a small implantable device, called a port. But after eight rounds, difficult life circumstances lead to the port becoming infected. It needed to be removed and a PICC line (peripherally inserted central catheter) placed. Unfortunately, during that transition, the cancer grew. “In that time, I could feel it growing in back on one of my lymph nodes—I could just feel it,” Ashlee recalls. Now put at a stage 4, Ashlee’s medical team felt it was best to have her care moved to the Colorado Blood Cancer Institute (CBCI) for a stem cell transplant.
Stem cells are a type of cell found in bone marrow that can mature into healthy blood cells. Stem cells can be collected from a donor (allogenic) or from the patient (autologous) and then are later introduced into the blood stream where they naturally travel to bone marrow. There, they replicate and become different types of healthy blood cells – thus, using the body to heal itself.
Stem cell transplant brings new life
After meeting with the team at CBCI, it was determined that Ashlee was a candidate for an autologous stem cell transplant. When treatment began, she was admitted to Presbyterian/St. Luke’s Hospital to its specialized transplant floor for 21 days. Stem cells were removed from her bone marrow, and she began an intensive regimen of chemotherapy. “For six days I was given chemo two times a day,” Ashlee recalls. While the treatment kills off the cancer and any blood- producing stem cells left in the bone marrow, it also completely drains the immune system. She felt sick, tired and run down but the team at the hospital made the experience as comfortable as possible. “Everybody there was really nice and caring, and I remember one of the night nurses had lymphoma when he was younger, so I felt like he really understood what I was going through,” Ashlee details.
Remission
Once the therapy was completed, Ashlee was able to go home, but her care was not over. “You’re basically like a newborn, so it took months and months and months for me to feel better,” Ashlee shares. “You're so tired. You don't feel well at all. You have so many meds you have to take, you have to make sure you're eating right, you have all these rules to follow.”
She spent the next several months recovering and healing at home with her son. At that time, the world was staying home as well – it was the COVID-19 pandemic. “I was already in isolation before that, so it didn't affect me badly because I was already doing my own thing,” Ashlee remembers.
Throughout the year, Ashlee grew stronger and healthier and by August 2020 she was declared in remission.
Now, nearly four years later, she is back to good health and normal life. She feels grateful to the team at CBCI for their lifesaving treatment and compassionate care that has allowed her to experience priceless moments with her son. She never takes for granted the trips she and LJ take to the zoo to visit the gorillas and to the park to play.
To others facing this difficult diagnosis, she encourages them to accept help and find support from those who will be there through the tough times. “I would never ever say that that was a good time in my life, but I did learn and grow a lot,” Ashlee concludes. “You learn who's there for you and who's not there for you, and then sometimes the most expect unexpected people to come into your life and together you can become stronger.”
To learn more about Colorado Blood Cancer Institute and stem cell transplant, visit bloodcancerinstitute.com.
