Her Oncologist Said, 'If You Were My Daughter, Do This'

When Serene Hesri received her Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis at 25, cancer was the last thing she expected. Three months after her initial remission, her cancer returned — and that's when a clinical trial entered the picture.

Her oncologist made the case simply: if she were his daughter, he would tell her to do it. She listened, enrolled and has now been in remission for five years.

Looking back, Hesri wants patients to know that the "guinea pig" stigma around clinical trials is a misconception — and that awareness of the option shouldn't wait until relapse.

"Clinical trials weren't even on my radar until my cancer had returned," she said. "I would like there to be a lot more education or a lot more talk around the possibility of clinical trials."

In the video above, Hesri discusses seeking second opinions, asking questions without fear and how participating in her trial may help advance treatment for future patients.

Transcript

It was a lot of shock, of course, and like maybe a little bit of denial, because at 25 years old, you know, you expect yourself to be healthy, especially when you are living a very healthy lifestyle in general. You just never would think the worst-case scenario, which would be cancer. So when I did get the biopsy back and the news came that it was cancer, I was very much shocked and a little afraid because cancer does not run in my family, so I've never dealt with it on my side at all. And now, like for it to happen to me, it was something new — like very new waters that we were treading into. I knew I had a lot of support around me, but during that time, my main emotion, I think, was just shock.

It was really tough to process the relapse because it kind of made me feel like my hope was being taken away from me again, but I had a really great medical team around me, and that's when new treatments were being presented to me. So it was during my remission that I started asking more questions about treatment options, and that's when I was presented with the possibility of clinical trials. But yeah, at the time I just wanted to do anything else that would guarantee a better chance at remission. Because if it didn't work the first time, I was really afraid it wasn't going to work with the standard form of treatment the second time. So I was looking into more options for treatment.

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