When 24-year-old Autumn Park (they\/them) began experiencing migraines, it was easy to write them off as a product of stress.<\/p>\n
After all, it was 2020 \u2014 as COVID-19 spread across the globe, Park, an essential worker, was employed at a grocery store while also caring for a disabled family member.<\/p>\n
But over the course of a year, the migraines were followed by other symptoms \u2014 nasal congestion, nosebleeds, fatigue and swelling in the neck. Multiple trips to urgent care brought no definitive answers and no lasting relief.<\/p>\n
Concerned, Park\u2019s boyfriend urged them to seek help one more time, so Park went to a local emergency department.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I pulled down my mask in the exam room, there was so much swelling in my sinuses that the provider examining me gasped,\u201d Park says.<\/p>\n
Tests would reveal a mass in Park\u2019s sinuses, a form of cancer called alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma<\/a>.<\/p>\n Despite being in their 20s, Park was referred to MultiCare Mary Bridge Children\u2019s<\/a>, where a clinical trial testing an investigational treatment for this cancer was being offered. The trial was likely their best chance at long-term remission.<\/p>\n While weighing the options, they thought about more than their own well-being.<\/p>\n \u201cMy cancer was stage 4 \u2014 my odds for survival weren\u2019t good,\u201d Park says. \u201cBut whether I lived or died, I wanted my suffering to mean something. If participating in the trial would help someone, whether it was a year from now or 50 years from now, I wanted to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n It’s not unusual for someone of Park\u2019s age to receive treatment for cancer at a children\u2019s hospital. They fall into a group of patients between the ages of 15 and 39 referred to as adolescents and young adults (AYAs).<\/p>\n \u201cPatients in this age group can get cancers that are more commonly found in young children or older adults,\u201d says Rebecca Johnson, MD, Park\u2019s primary oncologist<\/a> at Mary Bridge Children\u2019s and a nationally recognized expert in AYA medicine. \u201cAYA patients with cancers that are pediatric in nature tend to have better outcomes when they are treated in a pediatric rather than an adult setting.\u201d<\/p>\n This was the case for Park \u2014 rhabdomyosarcoma is usually diagnosed in children and teens. According to the American Cancer Society, rhabdomyosarcoma represents about 3 percent of all childhood cancers<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIn most areas of medicine, the handoff from a pediatric to an adult provider happens once and it goes in one direction,\u201d says Dr. Johnson. \u201cBut AYA cancer care is unique. It requires ongoing communication and treatment planning between oncologists on the adult and pediatric side. We\u2019ve built that system here at MultiCare to ensure patients \u2014 regardless of their age \u2014 are getting treatment in the right setting and access to appropriate clinical trials.\u201d<\/p>\n AYA patients with cancer have unique needs. Comprehensive AYA services include:<\/p>\n In 2016, Dr. Johnson was the principal investigator for a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI)<\/a> project that gathered information from AYA cancer survivors, family members and the MultiCare professionals who cared for them. This group became the Tacoma AYA Oncology Council.<\/p>\n Hear what the council has to say about AYA care in this video<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n While research has led to many advances in the treatment of childhood cancers, improving outcomes for metastatic rhabdomyosarcoma \u2014 the kind of cancer Park had \u2014 remains an area of opportunity. (Metastatic means the cancer has spread to other parts of the body.)<\/p>\n \u201cOver the past 20 or 30 years there hasn\u2019t been much progress in how we treat this particular type of tumor, so outcomes haven\u2019t improved much since the 1990s,\u201d says Jacob Henderson, MD, a member of Park\u2019s treatment team at Mary Bridge Children\u2019s. \u201cLong-term survival for patients with metastatic rhabdomyosarcoma is less than 20 percent.\u201d<\/p>\n Another complicating factor for Park was the location of their primary tumor. Surgery \u2014 sometimes part of standard treatment \u2014 would be disfiguring and possibly fatal.<\/p>\n After considering their options, Park agreed to pursue the investigational treatment. The Phase 2 trial, offered in collaboration with the MultiCare Institute for Research and Innovation,* was testing a combination of chemotherapy and radiation.<\/p>\n In a Phase 2 study<\/a>, researchers are aiming to learn more about the safety of a treatment and how well it works. Should the treatment prove both safe and effective, it will move on to further rounds of testing.<\/p>\n Park, like many patients in the South Sound area, was grateful to enroll in a study that was close to home.<\/p>\n \u201cTraveling long distances to access experimental treatments can be a real burden, especially when a person is dealing with the unknowns of a cancer diagnosis,\u201d says Julianne Pugh,** RN, clinical research associate at the Research Institute. \u201cMany people do not have the resources to travel, and less travel means more time they can spend focusing on their health.\u201d<\/p>\n As part of the Children\u2019s Oncology Group<\/a> (COG) \u2014 a national network of children\u2019s hospitals and research organizations \u2014 Mary Bridge Children\u2019s can support access to clinical trials, like the one Park participated in. COG trials investigate new and emerging treatments, supportive care, as well as issues children face in survivorship.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Having a treatment plan in place brought a slight measure of relief for Park, but it did not diminish the arduous path that lay ahead. Over the next year, Park endured multiple rounds of chemotherapy, a round of radiation and a two-month inpatient stay at Mary Bridge Children\u2019s Hospital.<\/p>\n \u201cI spent my 25th birthday in the hospital,\u201d Park says. \u201cThe Mary Bridge team was so kind to me \u2014 they made me little cards and gave me a little pillowcase and some things so I could color to try to keep myself busy.\u201d<\/p>\n At times during treatment, Park wanted to give up, particularly when the radiation to their mouth and throat made it impossible to talk or swallow. For several months, Park had to receive nutrition via a feeding tube.<\/p>\n However, in March 2023, shortly after a final dose of chemotherapy, Park would learn that their perseverance had paid off \u2014 scans showed no signs of disease.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was so emotional,\u201d Park says. \u201cI hadn\u2019t really expected to live through this, and here I was \u2026 not only just alive but in complete remission.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to the experimental treatment, Park credits the care they received at Mary Bridge Children\u2019s for saving their life.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve dealt with a lot of medical issues in my time \u2014 my own and my families\u2019 \u2014 so I\u2019m no stranger to hospitals,\u201d they say. \u201cMary Bridge is a special place \u2014 I found it really calming to be there. The doctors, the nurses and everyone was just so friendly and welcoming to me.\u201d<\/p>\n Today, Park remains in remission and is making good on a promise they made to themselves during treatment.<\/p>\n \u201cI told myself that if I survived this, I was going to go to college and become an accountant, so I\u2019ll be starting classes at Bates Technical College this fall.\u201d<\/p>\n *The MultiCare Institute for Research & Innovation closed in November 2025. However, MultiCare continues to conduct research at\u00a0Pulse Heart Institute<\/a>, MultiCare Cancer Institute<\/a> and MultiCare Mary Bridge Children\u2019s<\/a>, among other areas within our organization. To learn more about clinical trial opportunities, talk to your provider or visit ClinicalTrials.gov<\/a>. When 24-year-old Autumn Park (they\/them) began experiencing migraines, it was easy to write them off as a product of stress. After all, it was 2020 \u2014 as COVID-19 spread across the globe, Park, an essential worker, was employed at a grocery store while also caring for a disabled family member. But over the course of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":367,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,79,103],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cancer","category-profiles-stories","category-research"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLocation makes a difference<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Key ingredients of AYA cancer care<\/h3>\n
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Improving the standard of care through research<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Better outcomes through collaboration<\/h3>\n
Perseverance pays off<\/h2>\n
\n**This employee no longer works for MultiCare Health System.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"