According to a press release sent out today by Yale University, after results of a recent biopsy indicated that her cancer has returned, Mandi Schwartz has begun additional chemotherapy in an effort to get back into remission.
Mandi has started the treatment under the supervision of doctors at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. She is scheduled to return home at the end of the month to continue the treatment at the Allan Blair Cancer Centre in Pasqua Hospital in Regina, Sask.
“The results of the biopsy caught us off guard, because we had hoped to be done with this part of the battle,” said Carol Schwartz, Mandi’s mother, in a statement. “Mandi remains committed to fighting this disease and we are going to continue doing everything in our power to help her. We are so grateful for all the support we have received throughout this ordeal. We know how many families have been affected by cancer and we know that the efforts to raise awareness of this cause that have been made on Mandi’s behalf are making a difference for her and for so many other patients in need. That gives us the strength to keep going.”
Mandi and her family have been living in Seattle – 1,000 miles from their home in Wilcox, Sask. – for the last five months as she has undergone treatment at the Hutchinson Center. The latest biopsy results came less than three months after Mandi received a stem cell transplant that was designed to give her the new blood and immune system she needs to survive.
