CHRISTOPHER'S STORY

On the Fourth of July, 2005, Christopher Schoenmann experienced severe, flu-like symptoms, but a visit to the doctor indicated nothing out of the ordinary. Two nights later, he woke screaming in pain. His doctor sent him to the Emergency Room, and there, a CT scan found a large mass in his intestines. The life of the Schoenmann family was about to be turned upside down.

Two weeks later, exploratory surgery at CHOC confirmed Colleen Schoenmann's worst nightmare. Her fifteen-year-old son had Burkitt's lymphoma, an extremely aggressive form of pediatric cancer. Christopher was going to need a very aggressive treatment plan. His oncologist, Ivan Kirov, M.D., immediately ordered chemotherapy treatments to begin.

The intense treatments caused severe complications. He was usually too sick to go home, and his first stay at the hospital lasted two months.

"We were only out of the hospital a few days at a time for the rest of the year," says Colleen. "But thankfully, we knew that Dr. Kirov would do whatever it was going to take to make Christopher well again."

In November, the remainder of the tumor was removed, and he officially ended chemotherapy treatments this past Easter. Christopher has now joined the ranks of pediatric cancer survivors. But he will still need to be seen at The CHOC Cancer Institute for longterm follow-up care to ensure he doesn't suffer from any late effects.

"Dealing with a disease like this is a tremendous emotional and physical burden, especially for a teen," says Dr. Kirov. "Christopher's attitude and outgoing personality helped him through."

"We are so grateful that Christopher was treated at CHOC," says Colleen. "Dr. Kirov and the nurses were wonderful. There's nowhere else we'd want to be."