Story and Photos by Corrie Coleman
On Wednesday, Aug. 16, Baylor freshman Rylie York moved into the second floor of Collins Residence Hall to begin a new chapter of her life. On Thursday, Aug. 17, she underwent surgery to remove the cancerous tumor in her neck. On Sunday night, Rylie was back in her dorm room to prepare for classes the next day.
Rylie was a high school senior in Round Rock in the fall of 2017, planning to attend Baylor the following August. When she began experiencing severe abdominal pain, she thought she might have a stomach ulcer.
Rylie found a lump in her neck a few months later. โI didnโt say anything about that to my parents until about a month later around Christmastime,โ Rylie said. When antibiotics failed to lessen the swelling, the doctors decided removing the swollen lymph node was the best course of action.
โThey removed it, and I thought nothing of it,โ Rylie said. โI was totally downplaying itโthinking it wasnโt anything important. The pathology report didnโt come back for a while, and I had honestly forgotten about it.โ
On Jan. 25, 2018, five days after Rylieโs 18th birthday, the pathology reports came back. โI pulled into my driveway after school and my parents were standing there. I thought, โThis is weird,โโ Rylie said. โBefore I could get out of my car, they were both at my window. They said, โWe want you to know that everything is going to be OK. But you have lymphoma.โ I didnโt know what to think. I was completely dumbfounded. I remember just staring at my dashboard.โ
Rylieโs Hodgkinโs Lymphoma was stage four cancer. The disease attacking her white blood cells and immune system was not only in the lymph nodes in her neckโIt had spread to her chest and abdomen. โIn that moment, sitting in that doctorโs office, I was like, โIโm going to die,โโ Rylie said.
Heidi York, Rylieโs mother, described the way the diagnosis rattled the familyโs life. โIt just turns your whole life upside-down in a matter of a few minutes,โ Heidi said. โWeโve been walking a road and a journey these past nine months that you canโt possibly see coming.โ
The Yorks were almost immediately referred to Dr. ZoAnne Dreyer, an experienced pediatric oncologist at Texas Childrenโs Cancer Center in Houston. โRylie never appeared to be scared,โ Dreyer recalled. โShe just said, โOK, letโs get it done. I have things to do.โโ
Heidi remembers the same thing about her daughter. โVery quickly, her question became, โHow long is this treatment going to take, and am I going to get to go to Baylor?โโ
Heidi said Dreyerโs encouragement throughout the year of treatment was impactful on the York family. โI canโt imagine us not getting connected with Dr. Dreyer,โ she said. โDr. Dreyer kept saying, โWeโre going to do everything we can to get [Rylie] well and ready to move into Baylor in August.โโ
After her diagnosis, Rylie quickly began intense chemotherapy. โI couldnโt even get shots when I was 12. I had to have someone hold my hand,โ Rylie laughed. โIโve had to grow a lot since then.โ
After about a week of treatment, Rylie began losing her hair, something that was unexpectedly difficult for her. โ[My hair] is what I thought was most beautiful about myself before all of this,โ Rylie said. โI donโt know why I was so caught up with my hair.โ
Instead of watching her hair gradually fall out, Rylie decided she would shave it. โIt was cool and crazy. I was now the โbald girlโ that I never thought I would be,โ Rylie said. โBut I eventually got used to it, and I loved being bald.โ
Rylie said this experience gave her a new perspective on hairโboth her own and othersโ. โEvery time someone tells me, โI wouldnโt look good bald,โ I tell them, โYes you would,โโ she said. โThe world just focuses so much on things like hairโฆ Itโs a big step to not have something that makes you fit in and look normal, but I think everyone would look good bald.โ
In May 2018, nearly four months after her first diagnosis, Rylie completed chemotherapy treatment. When her scans came back, she was cancer-free. A month later, after radiation treatment, she was officially in remission.
โI got about a month of freedom. My family went on vacation, I prepared to come to Baylor, and I went on a mission trip,โ Rylie said.
No one expected the cancer to return. In early August, while shopping with her mom for new school clothes, Rylie discovered another lump in her neck. On Aug. 12, four days before she was scheduled to move to Baylor, she found out the cancer had returned in her clavicle.
The York family suddenly faced a difficult choice. โI had to decide if I was even going to come to Baylor, which was awful,โ Rylie said.
The family ultimately decided that Rylie would be able to attend college. โThat was a really, really tough and emotional time for everybody. But in [Rylieโs] usual style, she handled it,โ Dreyer said. โShe and her parents were like, โWeโre moving her in, and weโll figure it out from there.โโ
The York familyโs decision triggered great support from the Baylor community. โEveryone rallied around us to help us get connected to the right people and get everything figured out,โ Heidi said. โWe kept getting calls from people at Baylor saying, โEveryone is going to do everything we can to keep Rylie here and keep her healthy.โโ
Because the cancer was only in her clavicle, Rylieโs doctors decided she would undergo โchemo lite,โ a milder form of chemotherapy than the treatment she underwent in the spring. Nearly every Friday throughout the semester, Rylie and her mother drove to Texas Childrenโs Cancer Center in Houston for chemotherapy treatment.
Rylie said she didnโt feel sick on most days. โWhen Iโm feeling well, I feel pretty normal. I donโt normally start feeling down about things until hours before I know Iโm about to get treated,โ she said. โI can live a normal week and not feel sick other than the fact that I know itโs there.โ
Although her semester was busy, Rylie said she has felt encouraged throughout her time at Baylor. โIโve been able to keep up with my classes, but sometimes I donโt know how I do it,โ she said. โIโm happiest when Iโm busiest. Getting back into a routine and getting back into school makes me happy.โ
Rylie said she especially feels encouraged because Baylor students and professors have rallied behind her throughout her journey. โBaylor has been a light through all of it. I canโt imagine doing it again and not being here,โ Rylie said. โThereโs been an overwhelming feeling of connection and support. Baylor is special, and it makes everything a hundred times easier.โ
Rylieโs positive college experiences were particularly influenced by the close friendships she made early on. โThe night before I started my first day of chemo, all the girls on my hall in Collins decorated my room and surprised me. They had posters and streamers and balloons. My door is still decorated with everything,โ she said. โI didnโt even know these girls for two weeks, and they were just pouring themselves into making sure Iโm OK. Iโve found great friends.โ
Rylie said she struggled with a fear of the unknown before she experienced cancer but now finds comfort in focusing on the present. โIt was like God came in and said to me, โForget everything youโve planned. This is all out of your control, and you donโt have a choice.โ Because I wanted to control everything,โ Rylie said. โI think I deal with [fear] the best when I focus on whatโs happening now. Letโs kill cancer today. Letโs be positive today.โ
In mid-October, Rylie underwent a PET scan to gauge how well the chemotherapy was working. The next week, she received a text from Dr. Dreyer that read, โPET is perfect.โ The cancer was gone.
Although Rylie is now cancer-free, she will continue radiation treatment until mid-December.
Rylie said her cancer diagnosis brought her joy as well as struggle. โI wish people knew that there is both destruction and beauty in cancer. It forms bonds that I never thought I would build,โ Rylie said. โThereโs so much emotion and sadness and hopelessnessโbut thereโs also hope.โ
Rylie said cancer taught her the value of self-expression, gratitude and living in the present moment. โGoing through this, and knowing that your days are short, and anything could happen at any moment, I think itโs so important to just tell people whatโs on your mind,โ Rylie said. โI wish people knew the value of a day.โ
Despite the troubles she has faced, Rylie said the past nine months additionally shaped her into a more interesting and determined person. โI wouldnโt wish my diagnosis on anyone, but I know that itโs made me a better person,โ she said. โRylie before cancer was boring. Life before all of it was boring, and now itโs hard, but I have a purpose, and I know what my purpose is.โ
According to Dreyer, though painful and frightening, cancer creates opportunities to apply courage and strength to life. โItโs the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, and all these blessings and hardships wrapped up into one,โ she said. โWeโll never look at life the same after coming through this. Weโll never be the people that we were on Jan. 25, 2018. And thatโs a good thing.โ
From the moment she received her diagnosis, Rylie knew cancer was something she was prepared for.
โI knew that night, with my family and friends all around me, that everything was going to be OK,โ she said. โIโm supposed to go through this so that I can benefit others through the process. As weird as it sounds, I know confidently that this is what I was born for.โ