Christie Bevington
Patient Testimonial
Christie Bevington is an adoring grandmother of five and successful real estate businesswoman who lives in Wahoo, Nebraska with her husband Troy. Part of a close-knit family, she’s always been thankful that her son, daughter and two sisters live nearby, but perhaps never more so than in 2018 when her life took a dramatic turn and she needed their support like never before.
What began as slight back pain that never mended with chiropractor and physical therapy treatments resulted in a life changing experience for Christie. After four months of enduring the pain, Christie went to see a doctor in December 2018. Her doctor ran several tests and informed her she had abnormal growth in her spine and bones. It was cancer. To say that Christie was shocked would be an understatement, but the worst news was yet to come. Further tests were run to find the origin of her cancer and the grim results showed she had lung cancer and it had metastasized to her bones, lymph nodes, brain and liver. Devastated, she went home to meet with her family to share the news. The cancer spreading all over her body was a difficult reality for her children to accept, and they worried the worst was near.
Christie immediately started on two types of chemotherapy and soon after that had a seizure while at home and was taken by ambulance to Omaha. This adverse reaction ultimately prolonged her initial treatment, but during her hospital stay, she met the oncologist who would enable her life changing treatment.
Dr. Dorius ordered a Caris molecular profiling report to check for mutations in Christie’s tumor to help guide treatment options. “In the case for my patients, I always order a broad panel which includes Next-Generation Sequencing. You don’t find out how to treat patients the right way unless you do as broad of a test as you can,” says Dr. Dorius.
When the results came back, Dr. Dorius’ news was hopeful. He informed Christie that she had high levels of PD-L1, a biomarker indicating her cancer can be treated with immunotherapy, which meant she no longer had to do chemotherapy.
“We started immunotherapy and monitored with CT scans to see if the areas where we knew there was cancer were shrinking. Fortunately for Christie, they were,” said Dr. Dorius.
After two years of immunotherapy treatment, Christie continues to have no adverse treatment effects, her cancer remains stable, and her numerous tumors have either shrunk or completely disappeared.
“Molecular profiling truly saved my life. I can’t thank Caris enough for this because I have gone almost two years just by having immunotherapy. I don’t get sick from it. Nothing. I have no side effects whatsoever. I live a normal life, a totally normal life,” says Christie.
Christie wants to help others that are in the same situation and let them know that molecular profiling offers hope no matter what type of cancer. “It is important to know your cancer’s biomarkers so you know what treatment options you have,” emphasizes Christie.
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Knowing what cancer looks like at the molecular level can lead to better treatment options.