Issue link: https://tmcpulse.uberflip.com/i/1048847
T M C » P U L S E | N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 8 37 Go further. At the TWU Institute of Health Sciences – Houston Center, you can earn your graduate degree in nursing, nutrition, physical or occupational therapy, health care administration or business. Get the support you need every step of the way. Learn more at TWU.edu/houston Let us help. Struggling? We can be your partner in overcoming challenges such as depression or substance use. For more information call 832-720-6688 or visit westoakshospital.com. Serving the needs of children, adolescents and adults, West Oaks Hospital offers inpatient and outpatient treatment options. 6500 Hornwood | Houston, TX 77074 With limited exceptions, physicians are not employees or agents of this hospital. For language assistance, disability accommodations and the non-discrimination notice, visit our website. 183440 home, and every time the limit was reached, we weren't able to go home yet," Tynan said. "It was breaking our hearts each time." But this summer, after some adjustments to her medication rou- tine, things turned around. "It literally felt like overnight that it was finally working," Tynan said. "Everything started to come together." Then, during an Aug. 14 appointment, she was unexpectedly declared cancer free. "There was no response from us," Tynan, now 20, recalled while exchanging gleeful glances with her mother. "We were in complete shock." By the time Tynan ran through a tunnel of outstretched arms from relatives, nurses, physicians and friends at Texas Children's Hospital on Sept. 28 and rang the bell signifying she was finished with cancer treatment, that shock had turned to joy. At the bell-ringing ceremony, Tynan presented a surprise pres- ent to the physician who saved her life: a check for $10,000—the rest of the money from the funds she had raised—to go toward histiocytosis research. Her hope is that someday when a child or teen from another country receives her same diagno- sis, they can stay in the comfort of their hometown; that even though her disease is rare, there will be enough investment in research for its cure. Today, Tynan is back home with her friends and family in Ireland. She still takes oral chemotherapy every day to keep her cancer from relapsing and she plans to spend the immediate future learning to drive and rebuilding her stamina. She intends to keep her popular YouTube channel active, and said she is grateful for having done so during her time in Houston—espe- cially after losing much of her memory during some of the more aggressive chemotherapies. "I like being able to look back and remember, even the low points, because now that you're at a better point, you feel even more grateful," she said. "You never think that's going to happen to you. You see it all the time, but it's crazy. It's life-changing. You look at every- thing in a different way. You'll never walk past an organization again without looking into it and trying to help." Shauntelle Tynan rings the bell at Texas Children's after completing cancer treatment.