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Nursing Student in Remission Reunites With Temple Team After Rare Heart-Involved Lymphoma

A multidisciplinary plan used intensive chemotherapy with close cardiac monitoring to treat a tumor invading her heart.

Overview

  • Zipporah Washington, 34, was diagnosed last winter with advanced non-Hodgkin lymphoma that had invaded her heart.
  • Temple University Hospital created a personalized approach that paired aggressive chemotherapy with daily echocardiographic monitoring to protect cardiac function.
  • She completed seven chemotherapy cycles, with initial treatments in the ICU, and summer scans showed her heart function returned to normal.
  • Doctors report she is in remission; in June she rang the bell marking her final chemotherapy and graduated from nursing school with honors.
  • She reunited with her Temple care team on Thursday, and she is considering a move to Philadelphia for follow-up as she pursues pediatric oncology nursing.