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Thread: Jacqui Graf (22) died after a battle with Burkitt lymphoma

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    Jacqui Graf (22) died after a battle with Burkitt lymphoma

    http://mydeathspace.com/article/2012...rkitt_lymphoma

    In a week's time, Jacqui Graf went from a happy expectant mother to a woman with an aggressive cancer diagnosis and a 1-pound, 13-ounce premature baby.

    "It's very scary," Graf's mother, Cindy Poulain of Belle Fourche, said Monday. "You know, she's 22 years old. She's so young to be going through this."

    On Monday, Graf, who is also from Belle Fourche, began chemotherapy at Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls. In the same hospital, her daughter, Haylee, born at 26 weeks, is getting around-the-clock care in the neonatal intensive care unit.

    Graf was six months pregnant when she began having intense pains the last week of January. Doctors in Spearfish airlifted her to Avera McKennan on Jan. 27 after tests showed a large mass in her abdominal area, Poulain said.

    Physicians in Sioux Falls initially diagnosed her with ovarian cancer and operated to remove an ovary, part of her colon and a portion of a tumor on Jan. 29, Poulain said. Four days later, doctors changed the diagnosis. Graf has an aggressive form of lymphoma called Burkitt's lymphoma instead.

    The non-Hodgkin lymphoma is found most often in children and young adults and is known for how fast it grows.

    "It can triple in five days," Poulain said. "It was a month ago, she had an ultra sound. Everything looked normal. Within a month, it was a huge mass."

    The pace in which the cancer spreads created a heart-wrenching dilemma for Graf, who has two other children with her husband, Paul Graf.

    Obstetricians warned the couple that at 26 weeks, their daughter wasn't ready to be born. Graf's oncologists issued similarly painful news - without immediate chemotherapy treatment, the cancer would likely kill her.

    Poulain said her daughter's first reaction was to give her daughter more time to develop, risking her own health.

    "Of course, she wanted to save the baby," Poulain said. "But we told her, ?you have two kids right now who need their mother, too.'"

    Graf relented and doctors delivered Haylee Renee Graf on Saturday.

    "She's so cute," Poulain said. "Baby is doing good. She's got the cutest little black mask over her eyes ... It's velvet. It's like a little Zorro mask."

    With Haylee receiving the care she needs, the oncologists began treating Graf with chemotherapy on Monday.

    "It's going to be rough," Poulain said. "She's still recovering from the two surgeries. It's a big gamble doing this after the two surgeries ... Even the doctors told us she might not get through this."

    Poulain said her daughter has come to terms with the severity of the situation.

    "She said, ?Mom. If I don't make it, there's a reason for it and I accept it,'" Poulain said.

    Poulain feels quite differently. "I said I don't accept it. No way."

    Because Graf will be isolated during treatment, Avera has set up a video camera in the neonatal intensive care unit. She will be able to watch Haylee develop as she undergoes chemotherapy treatment.

    Poulain and her husband, Greg, have been in Sioux Falls with their daughter, as has Paul. The Poulain's son Aric Millar, who was stationed with the United Navy in Afghanistan, arrived in Sioux Falls Sunday to see his sister.

    The family is staying at the Ronald McDonald House and getting support from their friends in Sioux Falls.

    Greg Poulain will have to return to Belle Fourche soon to manage the couple's nonprofit business, Black Hills Parrot Welfare and Education Center.

    Poulain has no idea when she will return home.

    "I'll be here as long as they need me, which will probably be forever," Poulain said.

    Poulain said the outpouring in Sioux Falls has been overwhelming, from the free day care offered to one of Graf's daughters to gift cards for food. Financially, it is a challenge, Poulain admitted. But right now, her focus in getting her daughter and granddaughter through the coming weeks and months.

    "If they could give you a gift card to get your emotions under check, I'd use that right away," Poulain said. "But we've been just so blessed by so many people."

    Contact Lynn Taylor Rick at lynn.taylorrick@rapidcityjournal.com or 394-8414.

    Read more: http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/loc...#ixzz1liI7f8qu

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    Last edited by Olivia; 08-27-2012 at 03:46 PM.
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    lol at Nestle being some vicious smiter, she's the nicest person on this site besides probably puzzld. Or at least the last person to resort to smiting.
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    Quote Originally Posted by bowieluva View Post
    lol at Nestle being some vicious smiter, she's the nicest person on this site besides probably puzzld. Or at least the last person to resort to smiting.
    Quote Originally Posted by nestlequikie View Post
    Why on earth would I smite you when I can ban you?

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    Last edited by puzzld; 06-23-2012 at 04:15 PM.
    Quote Originally Posted by bowieluva View Post
    lol at Nestle being some vicious smiter, she's the nicest person on this site besides probably puzzld. Or at least the last person to resort to smiting.
    Quote Originally Posted by nestlequikie View Post
    Why on earth would I smite you when I can ban you?

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    “Even if you’re not a match for Jacqui, you could be a match for someone else who is going through the same thing Jacqui is,” she said.

    Yes. It's so easy to swab your cheek and send it in. I hope someone can help this poor girl.
    Quote Originally Posted by bowieluva View Post
    oMG, yeah, no, AMY is in no way superior to Tara. Never.

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    The young Black Hills mother whose pregnancy and cancer fight drew wide support from friends and strangers around the country has died.

    Jacqui Graf, 22, died Sunday at Rapid City Regional Hospital Auxiliary Hospice House with her husband, Paul Graf, by her side.

    "She was so amazing," Paul said Monday. "She just touched everybody."

    Jacqui Graf was six months pregnant in late January when doctors discovered a large mass in her abdomen. The mass hadn't been present the month prior during a routine ultrasound. She was airlifted to Sioux Falls on Jan. 27 and eventually diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma, an extremely fast growing form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

    Following the diagnosis, she and Paul were forced to make a heart-wrenching decision ? deliver baby Haylee prematurely so Graf could begin treatment immediately, or wait for the baby to mature and most likely lose Jacqui.

    "When the doctor said she had to choose between her and Haylee, she chose Haylee instantly," Paul said. "She cared so much more about everyone else."

    Eventually, doctors and Paul convinced Jacqui to deliver Haylee early in order to give them both a chance at life.

    Haylee was born on Feb. 4, weighing just 1 pound, 13 ounces. Today, she is home in Hot Springs with Paul. She weighs 12 pounds and is "100 percent healthy."

    "There are certain things in life that let you know there is a God," Paul said. "Haylee, out of the gate, she went against every prediction they had about her ? She's a fighter, like her mother."

    Once Jacqui knew her daughter was safe, she threw herself into fighting the cancer, Paul said. She posted frequently on her Facebook page, gathering a committed following. On Monday, one poster offered this: "Jacqui, you and your family are in my fervent prayers tonight. We've never met, and yet there's a special place in my heart for all of you."

    She relied heavily on her faith, which she shared with her Facebook friends, he said.

    "It was prayers constantly," Paul said. "From complete strangers, from everywhere."

    Jacqui underwent nearly constant chemotherapy treatments in the Sioux Falls hospital, posting on Facebook on both good and bad days. When doctors informed her that the treatments were no longer helping, she ended them and came home to the Black Hills last week, Paul said.

    She fought hard to the end, but when the time came she accepted her death, he said. "I was so proud of her for fighting. She fought so hard."

    Jacqui, who grew up in Hill City, met her husband in 2007. They married in 2009.

    "I know everybody says this, but it was the real love at first sight thing," he said. "There was no dating process with us. It was just bam, we were together. It was a true soul mate situation."

    Jacqui had a daughter, Madison, from a previous relationship. She and Paul had their son, Ryan, who is now 2, as well as Haylee, now 6 months.

    Paul, Ryan and Haylee will remain in Hot Springs near his family. He said the "two little Jacquis running around" his house are keeping him strong in spite of the loss.

    On Monday, he spent the day planning his wife's funeral services. It wasn't an easy day, he admitted, but it gave him a chance to remember his wife.

    "I could talk for days about her," he said. "She was just beautiful and perfect. It was such a blessing to know her."

    http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/you...0aac154d6.html
    Quote Originally Posted by bowieluva View Post
    lol at Nestle being some vicious smiter, she's the nicest person on this site besides probably puzzld. Or at least the last person to resort to smiting.
    Quote Originally Posted by nestlequikie View Post
    Why on earth would I smite you when I can ban you?

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    Fuck. I knew when I saw this article bumped what I was going to see.

    RIP Jacqui.
    I hope that when the world comes to an end, I can breathe a sigh of relief, because there will be so much to look forward to. - Donnie Darko

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