DANVILLE, Pa. — According to the American Cancer Society, nearly 10,000 children under the age of 15 will be diagnosed with cancer this year.
Ashlynn Rafter and her mom, Natasha Lindquist of Lock Haven, are very familiar with Janet Weis Children's Hospital. It's a place where they've spent a lot of time over the last two years. In 2021, Ashlynn went to her doctor for tooth pain and other symptoms.
"I had muffled hearing in my left ear, so I couldn't hear very well. I also had trouble breathing," Ashlynn recalled.
Soon after that, Natasha got a phone call that no parent wants.
"(They) told me I needed to get her to Danville immediately, and it couldn't wait."
Ashlynn was diagnosed with Stage 3 nasopharyngeal carcinoma, a rare type of head and neck cancer that affects one in 100,000 people each year.
Ashlynn was 15 years old at the time.
"When we had this diagnosis for Ashlynn, I was very concerned about how she was going to handle the treatment because the treatment was going to be very intense," said Dr. Jagadeesh Ramdas, Geisinger's director of pediatric hematology/oncology.
Asylynn's doctors said surgery was not an option, so they planned an aggressive course of treatment.
"Six-week-long rounds of chemotherapy and then 42 rounds of radiation. She was very sick, pale," Natasha said.
According to Dr. Ramdas, pediatric cancers make up about 15 percent of all cancers.
"These children who come out of the cancer, they have long lives in front of them. And for us, cure is not enough. We need to follow these children because they're going to make a lot of impact," Dr. Ramdas said.
Ashlynn is now 16 years old and in remission. She still has side effects like hearing loss and thyroid issues, but she's happy to be cancer-free.
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