Patient Success Stories

Cancer survivor beats the odds and scores

Stephanie Grumbles experienced the thrill of a lifetime when she threw out the first pitch at a White Sox game.

But that achievement pales in comparison to Grumbles' real triumph. Over a decade earlier, at age 14, she beat a rare form of cancer. And thanks to the treatment she received through Ingalls Hospital's Cancer Care Program, has been cancer-free for a decade.

"I remember that it felt weird when I tried to sleep," explained Grumbles. "Like a lump or a ball was inside of me."

When the sensation persisted, she told her mom, Beverly Bonnema. "At first, I didn't think anything of it," recalls Bonnema, lead technician in Ingalls Blood Bank. "After she complained again the next month, we made an appointment to see her pediatrician, who admitted her to Ingalls right away." The diagnosis: ovarian dysgerminoma, a rare form of ovarian cancer that, until 1990 when Grumbles was diagnosed, proved fatal in 50 percent of young victims.

Grumbles underwent immediate surgery to remove the softball-sized tumor and then began four cycles of intense chemotherapy under the direction of Mark Kozloff, M.D., hematologist/oncologist at Ingalls.

"Dr. Kozloff timed my treatment so that I could make it to prom with all my hair intact. It started falling out shortly after that."

Today, Grumbles is healthy and active. When she got married in 2002, Dr. Kozloff, she says, was at the top of the invitation list. And someday down the road she plans on having children. Since surgery required the removal of only one ovary, Grumbles can conceive.

These days, what's important to Grumbles is spending time with loved ones, working and accomplishing new goals - like throwing out the first pitch at a Cancer Survivor Night celebration at Comiskey Park.

For more information on Ingalls Cancer Care, call 800-221-2199.

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