Manitobas first CAR T-cell therapy patient declared cancer-free – Winnipeg [Video]

“It’s like a bullet. You hear cancer and you just go blank.”

After visits to three different doctors, a misdiagnosis, and numerous tests, Sandra Hajlo of Winnipeg Beach learned the source of the debilitating back pain that had plagued her for months.

“I just assumed it was job-related, or that I was getting older,” the 59-year-old said.

“It was my worst fear.”

Hajlo was diagnosed with stage four B-cell lymphoma in 2015. She immediately began chemotherapy in Winnipeg. After six months, fist-sized tumor had disappeared, and she was declared cancer-free.

But eight years later, the pain returned. Hajlo said her doctor believed she was suffering from scoliosis, but ordered a CT scan “just to confirm.”

“When I got those results back… it was stage four cancer again,” she said through tears. “It was inconceivable at the time, because I thought I had already survived it. Why me?”

She began chemotherapy at CancerCare Manitoba once again. But then, her …