出国看病MD安德森癌症中心治疗霍奇金淋巴瘤-MD安德森癌症中心

2008年年初，当Katie Meacham被诊断出患有霍奇金淋巴瘤的时候，她才25岁，她在纽约这座大都市里追逐着自己的梦想，享受着美好的青春时光。

她有一份好工作，她是纽约一家大型营销企业的员工。她的前途无可限量。然而，在她去布宜诺斯艾利斯旅行期间，她察觉到她的双脚发痒。

“几天后，瘙痒感消失了。我这时才意识到我的双脚发痒是暂时的，”她说。“我的手臂上突然长满了荨麻疹，我的头部在发痒。我洗了澡之后，我的全身都在发痒。”

然后，她注意到她的喉咙处有一个肿块。她的母亲得知这一情况后，坚持带她去看医生。医生让Meacham接受了一次CT扫描，然后诊断出她患有霍奇金淋巴瘤。Meacham选择在纽约市的一家医院接受治疗，但是经过两个月的治疗，她的另外一处淋巴结中也出现了肿瘤。

Katie Meacham，患者

从纽约到德克萨斯州

“医生说，他以前只碰到过一次这样的情况，”Meacham说，“他说，我需要接受干细胞或骨髓移植治疗。”

Meacham的家人马上团结起来，开始寻找对她进行治疗的好医院。经过广泛调查和多方打听，他们选择前往MD安德森癌症中心接受治疗，因为该中心实施的干细胞或骨髓移植手术的数量和成功率居全美#1。

在MD安德森，Meacham接受的高剂量化疗让她的癌症达到了完全缓解；然后，医生从Meacham的体内提取了干细胞。接着，Meacham又接受了一周化疗；后，医生将干细胞植入到Meacham的体内。

“那是一段苦难的岁月，”她说，“飓风艾克袭击休斯顿的时候，我正在MD安德森接受住院治疗。我出院第二天，我母亲被诊断出患有乳腺癌。”

在1400万名捐赠者中寻找完美匹配

Meacham回到了自己的工作岗位上，这次她让她的癌症成为了历史。然而，一年后，她接受的一次后续PET扫描显示她的癌症复发了。这次，她必须接受异体干细胞移植治疗。但是，在全世界1400万名干细胞捐赠者中，没有一人可以成为她的完美匹配。

Meacham和她的家人并没有泄气，她们开始通过各种途径倡导人们捐赠干细胞。国内电视台和纽约的各大报纸纷纷报道了Meacham的故事。她的家人不辞辛劳地招收干细胞捐赠者、筹集资金、增强人们的干细胞捐赠意识。他们帮助七名患者找到了匹配的干细胞捐赠者，但他们还是没有找到与Meacham完全匹配的干细胞捐赠者。

天无绝人之路，Meacham开始参加了MD安德森进行的一项临床试验。从2009年9月到2010年3月，她的癌症一直处于缓解期，但是，她知道这只是暂时的。后来，有人向她推荐了质子治疗。

质子治疗传递希望

“我们权衡了所有的利与弊，我们非常看好质子治疗，”Meacham说，“质子治疗不望成功治疗我的癌症，还拥有小的副作用，不会妨碍我今后接受任何一种治疗。”

她在6周的时间里接受了30次质子治疗。从开始到结束，每次质子治疗的时间大约是30分钟。从2010年3月质子治疗结束到现在，医生在她体内没有发现任何癌症迹象。

从开始接受治疗到现在，Meacham已经完成了三次半程马拉松比赛。为了备战纽约市马拉松赛，她已经开始进行训练了。另外，她又开始工作了，她尽量抓住每一次外出旅游的机会。她移居到了芝加哥，开始创立自己的一番事业。

“我喜欢和大家分享我的故事，我要告诉人们永远不要放弃希望，”她说，“关注什么才是适合你的选择。与他人进行沟通以及通过各种渠道了解相关信息是很重要的，但是每个人的身体状况和疾病情况也是不同的。”

北京盛诺一家为中国患者赴美医提供专业的全程服务

目前美国好的癌症医院中排名在前的大部分医院如麻省总医院、安德森癌症中心、梅奥医院、纪念斯隆-凯特琳癌症中心、约翰.霍普金斯医院 、克利夫兰医院、布列根-丹娜法伯癌症中心等均与中国大的海外医疗服务机构--北京盛诺一家医院管理有限公司建立了良好的合作关系，来自中国的患者可以顺利地通过盛诺一家的帮助，转诊到美国进一步诊断治疗。北京盛诺一家医院管理有限公司为中国客户赴美医、出国看病、美国哈佛医学专家远程咨询等提供快捷的国外专家预约、住院预约、辅助签证、医学资料收集、医学翻译以及海外陪同等去国外看病所需的全程服务。

原文链接：

http://www2.mdanderson.org/cancerwise/2012/08/after-a-wild-ride-proton-therapy-pays-off-for-hodgkin-survivor.html

原文：

After a wild ride, proton therapy pays off for Hodgkin survivor 

August 21, 2012

When Katie Meacham was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in early 2008, she was 25 years old and enjoying a tasty bite of the Big Apple. 

She had a good job with a large marketing firm in New York and a promising future in front of her. Then, during a trip to Buenos Aires, she noticed her feet were itching.

"It went away in a few days, but I started to realize I had been itching for a while," she says. "My arm had broken out in hives, my head had been itching and I itched when I got out of the shower."

Then she noticed a lump in her throat. Her mother was visiting and insisted on taking her to the doctor, which led to a CT scan and diagnosis of Hodgkin lymphoma. She opted to be treated at a New York hospital, but two months into treatment, the cancer was found in another lymph node.

Big Apple to Lone Star

"The doctor said he had seen this happen only one other time," she says. "He said I would need a stem cell or bone marrow transplant."

Her family pulled together and quickly began researching the best place for treatment. After extensive research, they chose MD Anderson because it had performed the most procedures with the best results. 

At MD Anderson, Meacham had aggressive chemotherapy that put the cancer into complete remission, and then her stem cells were harvested. Another week of chemo followed before her stem cells were transplanted back into her body. 

"Those were dark days," she says. "Hurricane Ike hit Houston while I was in the hospital, and the day after I was released, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer."

Searching for one in 14 million

Meacham returned to work, certain the cancer was history this time. But her one-year follow-up PET scan showed it was back. It was time for a stem cell transplant from a donor. But of the 14 million people listed in the world-wide registry, not one person was a perfect match for her. 

Undaunted, Meacham and her family became advocates for stem cell donation. She appeared on national television and in New York newspapers. Her family tirelessly recruited donors, raised funds and raised awareness. They helped seven people find matches -- but still none existed for Meacham.

Instead, she began a clinical trial at MD Anderson. From September 2009 to March 2010, the cancer was in remission, but she knew it was temporary. Then someone mentioned proton therapy.

Proton therapy delivers hope

"We weighed all the pros and cons and were very optimistic about proton therapy," Meacham says. "It was promising, had minimal side effects and wouldn't shut any doors for future treatment if I needed it."

She had 30 treatments during the course of six weeks. From beginning to end, each daily session took about 30 minutes. She has shown no signs of cancer since her proton therapy treatment ended in March 2010.

Since her therapy, Meacham has completed three half-marathons and is training for the New York City Marathon. She's working again, traveling every chance she gets and has moved to Chicago, where she continues building the career she'd started when this all began.

"I like to share my story and let people know to never give up hope," she says. "Focus on what's best for your journey. It's important to talk to other people and to be informed, but everyone's situation and disease are different."