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Life has become more complicated for Eva Hathorne.
The Bear River High School singer had a tumor the size of a football taken out of her lung in mid-December. During the surgery, a three-inch part of the tumor got loose and flowed into her heart, said Steve Muehlberg, the fiance of Eva's mother, Linda Menge.
Muehlberg said 18 doctors participated in a second surgery to remove the portion of the tumor that lodged in the aorta where it joins the femoral arteries. Eva survived and was able to spend Christmas with her family.
This week, though, things turned tough again when the laboratory tests on the tumor came back. Eva and her family learned she has a unique form of a rare cancer that they were told has never been treated.
"Less than 100 people have had it in this country since they've kept records," starting in 1950 at the Mayo Clinic, Muehlberg said.
Primary pulmonary angiosarcoma is cancer of the blood vessels that invades other organs. According to the American College of Chest Physicians, there were no known reports of successful treatment until 2003. At that time, a Japanese respiratory medicine team reported that a 25-year-old man had responded to a combination of radiotherapy and immunotherapy with no signs of a tumor recurring after one year.
Eva will soon begin a two-month long stint of chemotherapy at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center on Morse Avenue in Sacramento. During that stretch, her loved ones will have to wear full plastic suits, protecting her from their germs, when they come to visit the high school senior.
"They want to kill the cancer cells that are left," Muehlberg said, adding that it has been a tough time for the entire family, including Linda, Eva's brothers and her father.
"Linda is focused on Eva," Muehlberg said.
Eva is drinking a special herbal tea to build strength for her treatments and has been mentally tough, Muehlberg said.
"She took it really well in the doctor's office (when learning of the cancer)," he said. "She cried a little but then I said, 'Eva, let's go shopping,' and her eyes got big and we went to the mall."
Muehlberg said Eva has youth in her favor and a lot of support from family and friends.
"The kids are handling it well and supporting her with visits or phone calls or cards," said Cherry Hayes, Eva's choral teacher at Bear River High. "We're all very concerned about Eva and only wish her good thoughts.
"We're just going to keep thinking real positive that the treatments will be successful."
ooo
To contact senior staff writer Dave Moller, e-mail davem@theunion.com or call 477-4237.
The Bear River High School singer had a tumor the size of a football taken out of her lung in mid-December. During the surgery, a three-inch part of the tumor got loose and flowed into her heart, said Steve Muehlberg, the fiance of Eva's mother, Linda Menge.
Muehlberg said 18 doctors participated in a second surgery to remove the portion of the tumor that lodged in the aorta where it joins the femoral arteries. Eva survived and was able to spend Christmas with her family.
This week, though, things turned tough again when the laboratory tests on the tumor came back. Eva and her family learned she has a unique form of a rare cancer that they were told has never been treated.
"Less than 100 people have had it in this country since they've kept records," starting in 1950 at the Mayo Clinic, Muehlberg said.
Primary pulmonary angiosarcoma is cancer of the blood vessels that invades other organs. According to the American College of Chest Physicians, there were no known reports of successful treatment until 2003. At that time, a Japanese respiratory medicine team reported that a 25-year-old man had responded to a combination of radiotherapy and immunotherapy with no signs of a tumor recurring after one year.
Eva will soon begin a two-month long stint of chemotherapy at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center on Morse Avenue in Sacramento. During that stretch, her loved ones will have to wear full plastic suits, protecting her from their germs, when they come to visit the high school senior.
"They want to kill the cancer cells that are left," Muehlberg said, adding that it has been a tough time for the entire family, including Linda, Eva's brothers and her father.
"Linda is focused on Eva," Muehlberg said.
Eva is drinking a special herbal tea to build strength for her treatments and has been mentally tough, Muehlberg said.
"She took it really well in the doctor's office (when learning of the cancer)," he said. "She cried a little but then I said, 'Eva, let's go shopping,' and her eyes got big and we went to the mall."
Muehlberg said Eva has youth in her favor and a lot of support from family and friends.
"The kids are handling it well and supporting her with visits or phone calls or cards," said Cherry Hayes, Eva's choral teacher at Bear River High. "We're all very concerned about Eva and only wish her good thoughts.
"We're just going to keep thinking real positive that the treatments will be successful."
ooo
To contact senior staff writer Dave Moller, e-mail davem@theunion.com or call 477-4237.
