ROYAL OAK (WWJ) -- Thanks to doctors at Beaumont Hospital and an advanced form of radiation therapy, a 10-year-old Grand Rapids girl is officially cancer-free!
10-year-old Ava Weiss was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma in January 2022, when tumors were discovered between her lungs and heart.
Ava started treatment in Grand Rapids before arrangements were made for her to travel to Beaumont Hospital. At Beaumont, Ava received three weeks of Proton therapy -- a specialized form of radiation that has only recently been utilized in Michigan.
Unlike more familiar radiation treatments, Proton therapy allows doctors to target tumors without damaging surrounding organs and tissues.
"This was the best chance of enabling her to be cured and have almost no long-term effects from treatment afterwards," said Dr. Rohan Deraniyangala, Ava's doctor at Beaumont.
The Proton therapy treatment proved to be a winning strategy. Nine months after her initial diagnosis, Ava's cancer has officially gone into remission!
To commemorate Ava's victory, Dr. Derani and his team rang the bell at the Proton Therapy Center. Ava is already back home in Grand Rapids, but she and her mom joined in via Zoom, ringing bells of their own.
During the Zoom call, Ava shared her best advice for other patients undergoing cancer treatment.
"Try not to focus on the bad things. Instead focus on the good things."
For Ava, those good things included trips to the Detroit Zoo and the Belle Isle Aquarium.
Ava's mother Jennifer encouraged other parents and patients to ask all the question the need to when it comes to cancer diagnosis and treatment.
She also talked about how the past year has changed her outlook on life.
"I think it's really easy in our busy lives to sometimes wish time away," she said. "I think now, I'm really cognizant of all the days that we've been given and that you do take the good with the bad."
According to Beaumont doctors, aside from routine checkups every few months, Ava is expected to have a normal childhood and adult life.
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