Six Years Out, and Some Days Are Still Hard by Chelsea Wooten

Chelsea Wooton
3 hours ago
3 min read

Courtesy Photo: Chelsea Wooten, Warrior. Mother. Survivor. Chelsea Wooten is still here… and that means everything.

I reached remission fast, but enduring years of chemo, spinal taps, and biopsies showed me what survival really looks like — and why new therapies are finally changing the journey.

Five months after the birth of my first child, I was hospitalized for three weeks with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL).

When I was discharged in March 2020, the world was shutting down. COVID-19 was spreading, public guidance was still evolving, and protective supplies were scarce. My immune system — already weakened by chemotherapy, left me especially vulnerable. Even routine medical visits carried new risk.

Then the real work began.

Over the next four years, my life revolved around treatment. I received IV chemotherapy through a chest port, daily oral chemotherapy, intrathecal chemotherapy via spinal taps, and repeated bone marrow biopsies to monitor my disease. These are standard components of treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

The side effects were relentless. Chemotherapy caused nausea, fatigue, mouth sores, infections, and hair loss, while some drugs led to nerve damage, balance issues, and frequent falls. Steroids disrupted sleep, mood, and metabolism. Over time, treatment became less about single symptoms and more about enduring the entire process. At the same time, I was learning how to care for a newborn.

Courtesy Photo: Chelsea and her daughter sweetly look into each others eyes. This is what survival looks like. Not just living… but loving through it all.

Like many patients, I reached remission early in treatment. But remission did not mean the end. It marked the beginning of years of continued chemotherapy designed to keep the disease from returning. That is the reality for adults and children alike: survival requires ongoing vigilance, repeated procedures, and a body constantly pushed to its limits.

Now, that model is beginning to change.

CAR-T cell therapy, including base-edited CAR7 (BE-CAR7), is one of the most promising advances. It modifies immune cells to target leukemia precisely. In early clinical studies involving children and adults with difficult-to-treat T-cell leukemia, patients in these trials achieved remission within weeks, with many reaching deep responses that allowed further treatment.

CAR-T therapies are not without risk. Patients may experience cytokine release syndrome, neurologic side effects, and low blood counts, requiring careful monitoring in specialized centers. But compared with traditional chemotherapy, these effects are typically shorter in duration and more targeted.

For decades, patients have endured long courses of therapy after remission, not because the cancer is visible, but because the risk of relapse remains.

I reached remission early. But remission didn’t mean I was done. It meant I had years of treatment and recovery ahead of me. That’s the reality for many blood cancer patients — surviving the disease, then enduring what comes next. "The gift that keeps on giving," as I've said before. Now, for the first time, that model is starting tochange. And for the next person diagnosed that could mean the difference between years defined by treatment, and a better quality of life.

Even now, six years later, some days are still hard. Frida Kahlo once said, “At the end of the day, we can endure much more than we think we can.”

Sources / References:

American Cancer Society. Adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Treatment.

National Cancer Institute. Acute Lymphoblast