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.
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