When Zipporah W., a 34-year-old mother of two, arrived at Temple University Hospital, she had already received a devastating diagnosis — advanced non-Hodgkin lymphoma. But what Temple Health physicians soon found out was that the cancer had reached her heart, creating a medical emergency that required immediate treatment of both conditions simultaneously.
Dr. Eman Hamad, Director of Temple's Cardio-Oncology Program, and Dr. Michael Bromberg, Chief of Hematology at Fox Chase Cancer Center at Temple University Hospital, together led Zipporah’s treatment, involving aggressively fighting a life-threatening cancer while carefully protecting the heart that it had invaded.
When Zipporah was diagnosed, she was in nursing school, and through four months of chemotherapy, she never stopped – she attended class, completed coursework, and pushed forward even on the hardest days, leaning on her faith and her young children to guide her through.
Zipporah credits her ICU nurses, Nathalie Nelson-Sealey and Robin Johnson, for walking her through the worst of it; for being a supportive, and calming presence in a scary and unpredictable situation.
There were moments when Washington wasn't sure she would make it, but six months later surrounded by her children and care team, she rang the bell in the oncology unit, marking her final chemotherapy treatment… the same week she graduated from nursing school.
Several months later, she returned to Temple University Hospital to embrace the team that saved her life. Doctors say she is in full remission, and her heart function has been completely restored. She is now setting her course toward a career in pediatric oncology — with plans to offer other patients the quality care that was given to her.