ATLANTA — As the 25th annual 95.5 WSB Care-a-Thon approaches, one former patient is sharing her remarkable story of survival and gratitude, 27 years after doctors told her family she had just weeks to live.
At only five years old, Elaina Schreckenberger was diagnosed with stage four neuroblastoma, a rare and aggressive cancer of the nervous system. Doctors gave her two weeks to live. Today, at 33, she’s thriving.
“The hospital room at Children’s became my home,” Elaina said, recalling the long months of intensive treatment that included full-body and targeted radiation. “As a child, I loved the hospital. I saw the nurses and the doctors as my friends.”
Elaina’s relationship with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta began in 1997 and was first documented by WSB in 2001. Even back then, she found comfort in the care she received. “When I first found out I had cancer, I was a little scared, but then I found out it was okay because they had a lot of nice doctors.”
Though the cancer is behind her, its effects linger. Elaina lost her hearing due to chemotherapy and radiation and now uses implants to manage her hearing loss. She still sees an oncologist but hasn’t let her health challenges hold her back.
Now living in Boston, Elaina manages a large nonprofit after earning dual master’s degrees in social work and public health from the University of Georgia. Her journey, she says, has shaped her outlook on life.
“Some people I know are so set on five years in the future, ten years in the future, and I don’t like to think that far ahead because I just don’t know,” she said. “For me, being this far ahead, no one thought I was going to be this far.”
The 25th annual WSB Care-a-Thon, airs Thursday, July 24 and Friday, July 25, which raises money for the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
WSB’s Jonathan O’Brien contributed to this story