Cancer patient prepares for stem-cell transplant

It will take more than a year to rebuild her immune system.
By SARAH POULTON
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BOARDMAN -- Sabrina Hoffman is hopeful, hairless and ready to kick her cancer to the curb.
Hoffman, 36, of Boardman, has been suffering with non-Hodgkins follicular lymphoma, which occurs when the lymph nodes are invaded by cancer, for the past three years. The mother of two young children has endured three years of chemotherapy -- 13 treatments -- to find that this type of cancer is treatable but not curable.
Last summer, she was a hopeful candidate for a case study under the direction of Dr. Hilliard Lazarus of the University Hospital Health System in Cleveland. Unfortunately for Hoffman, she had developed cancer in her stomach and was unable to participate.
Hoffman said she is not giving up hope and plans to go to Cleveland on Wednesday for treatment that will hopefully put her cancer in remission, for good.
She will spend a week in chemotherapy treatment. After that is finished, she will undergo a stem-cell transplant, which involves the removal of her own stem cells from her chest using a tri-fusion catheter, destroying her immune system, returning the stem-cells to her body, and then rebuilding her immune system, she said.
"When this is all over, my body should see the cancer as my enemy, not my friend," Hoffman said. "Right now, it's like my body is having a party with the cancer. That party's over."
What's ahead
She said it would take more than a year to rebuild her immune system. She will have to get all of her childhood booster shots again, and be cautious when she is in public areas, she said.
Hoffman said during her last round of chemotherapy, she lost all of her hair. She managed to keep her hair during her other treatments, and she said she didn't even notice it was falling out at first.
"It was just gone," Hoffman said. "It wouldn't hold for anything."
She said as soon as her treatment is over and her hair comes back, she is growing it very long and donating it to Locks of Love, a nonprofit charitable organization that uses human hair to create wigs for children who lost their own during medical treatment.
She donated 10 inches of her jet-black hair to Locks of Love right before she was diagnosed, and she said she wouldn't hesitate to do it again.
"I'm going to keep my hair this time and grow it long," Hoffman said. "When it gets long enough, I'm going to donate it again."
Hoffman said her family has been very supportive, but they worry a lot. She said her children, Haley, 7, and Jimmy, 5, are doing well but are sensitive to this situation.
"My son came up to me one day and asked how it felt when your heart hurts," Hoffman said. "He said his heart hurts now because I am leaving. He said, 'I think that's love.'"
She said she's been very open with her children about her illness. Since she's been planning the trip to Cleveland, the family has been spending a lot of time together and taking minivacations, but most importantly, they've been having a lot of heart-to-heart talks, she said.
Difficult times
Hoffman said it's been hard to keep going about her business because she gets tired easily from her medication. Her children don't understand why she can't do as much as she used to and Jimmy is especially upset because his friend recently lost his mother to cancer, she said.
"I've been sitting and crying a lot," Hoffman said. "It's hard and it's really starting to hit home because [treatment] is so close to happening."
She said she's been fortunate and is grateful to everyone who has supported her through prayer and generosity. On July, 17, friends and family members held a benefit to help raise money for her treatment and to spend some time with her loved ones before she left. They raised more than 6,000, and she was able to purchase a laptop computer so she could communicate with her children while she is in Cleveland.
Hoffman's aunt, Elvera Rich, 76, of Boardman, is a five-time cancer survivor, and has helped Hoffman through the past three years. Rich has endured colon cancer, breast cancer, uterine cancer and lymphoma. Rich has been through multiple chemotherapy and radiation treatments and understands what Hoffman is going through, she said.
"Because we are sisters in the skin, we do talk a lot," Rich said. "We're closer than just talking. I love her like my daughter."
Rich said she knows that Hoffman will come through this with flying colors, and when that happens, her wish for that family is to spend time together in Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla.
Hoffman, however, is thinking about the holidays.
"This Christmas, I'm making a point to visit all of my family," Hoffman said. "Not for the last time, but just to say goodbye for now. We've had some detours in the process, but we're almost there."
spoulton@vindy.com