Sophomore Riley Weinmann was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma last October. “At first I felt sick and thought that it was just a normal cold,” Riley said. However, when Riley still had a fever a few weeks later, his mother, Lettie Weinmann, the science Instructional Supervisor and the Technology Coordinator, took him to see his pediatrician. Finding no signs of mononucleosis or other sicknesses, his doctor had requested a routine ultrasound exam.

Lettie was driving Riley home when they found out that there was something wrong with the scans. “We were nearly home when I got a call on my cellphone,” Lettie said. “It was Riley’s doctor and he said, ‘Come back right away—we have found a mass.’ The mass the size of a grapefruit. The huge mass was a lymph node. I just thought, this can’t be good.”

Riley was sent back right away to get a CT scan, a three dimensional X-ray of the internal structures and organs of the body. Three weeks later, he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Although this is the most common form of blood cancer, affecting approximately 332,000 Americans, the sub-type that affects Riley, third stage large B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma, is quite rare.

Riley and his family were in denial when they found out about his diagnosis. “At first I thought that they weren’t right,” Riley said. “I would expect them to call me back and say, ‘Oh sorry, we made a mistake. It turns out you have mono.’ But then I realized I had it.” Rose Weinmann, Riley’s 11-year-old sister, said that she could relate to his hospitals stays and treatments since she has Crohn’s disease, a digestive tract inflammatory disorder.

Lettie said that she was astounded when she found out that Riley had cancer. “It’s kind of disbelief,” she said, “It’s scary. There’s no scarier word in the English language than cancer. I’m a mother, and he’s my little boy. I just want him to have a normal life.”

Riley’s friends were both sad and surprised to hear news of his sickness. “I didn’t really think that it would happen to him,” sophomore Danny Luskin said. “No one his age should go through that.”

Sophomore Tierney Lang agreed. “I never really thought that it could happen to one of my closest friends,” she said. “It’s really scary, to be honest. It’s really hard though, because if we let him know that we’re scared, it would be very discouraging.”

Riley underwent chemotherapy with four to five different drugs, and spinal taps, which are drug injections into spinal cord and other remedies. “You don’t feel great,” Riley said. “You feel tired, get occasional nausea [and] mouth sores.” Chemotherapy eventually occurred less frequently after scans showed that the cancer was disappearing. “The tumor shrunk very quickly,” his father, Barry Weinmann said. However, recent scans after spring break showed that the cancer had increased. “It was a big disappointment,” Lettie said. “He was planning on returning to school and taking three classes a day.”

A new cancer treatment plan was implemented after the results of the scans, since a bone marrow transplant or a stem cell transplant was needed. “A stem-cell transplant is a form of very aggressive treatment,” Peter Yu, an oncologist at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, said. “The reason why you give it is because sometimes it is the best chance of curing the cancer.”

Riley will be getting an autologous transplant, meaning that he will be receiving his own stem cells and not those from a donor. It is the safest kind of transplant, Yu said, because the patient does not need to worry about matching his blood with that of a donor. “With a stem cell transplant that uses a patient’s own stem cells, the role of the stem cells is to rescue the patient from the side effects of very high doses of chemotherapy,” Yu said.

While treatments can and do succeed, the experience can be fatal for the patient. “The most dangerous part, the time when you have the most side effects is the first month, and after that, your body begins to recover and return to what you remember as normal,” Yu said. “You’re at a high risk because nothing is working.” Barry agrees. Riley will be isolated in a clean room when his immune system is down, his father said, and he will be put on a special and strict diet to reduce risks of ingesting something that might contain bacteria or fungi that his body wouldn’t be able to fight off. “He’s going to be Bubble Boy for a little while, too,” Lettie said.

After approximately two months, Riley will be able to go home, being a resident of Palo Alto. However, he will need to return to the clinic every day for treatment. It will take a period of time for him to recover from the treatment. “As his blood cell counts increase and his immune system gets stronger he will be allowed to go out more,” Lettie said. “The enitre process takes about 6 months.” Riley’s doctors say that if all goes well, he will be able to attend school after next fall.

Riley is currently undergoing the first stage of the bone marrow transplant—the normal dosage of chemotherapy. He will continue with this phase until his blood count increases and his doctor gives the thumbs up to move on to the stem cell removal. “Right now his blood cell counts are very low,” Barry said. “Everything depends on the blood count.”

Riley’s diagnosis will affect him for the rest of his life. “There will be side effects that will affect him for the rest of his life,” Lettie said. “Some of the medicine he uses will affect his heart and he will need to get regular echocardiograms, and they may affect concentration.” Yu agrees. “It changes your outlook on life,” he said.

However, Riley’s family is trying to be optimistic about Riley’s diagnosis. “Just enjoy every minute you have,” Lettie said. “This is our life now. This is just a part of the adventure. Just stuff, happens. It’s all a part of what we call life.”

According to his family, Riley has a great attitude about the situation. “He has a fabulous sense of humor,” Lettie said. “He’s a really tough kid. He was never the sort of kid who cried when he fell.” Barry agreed. “He knows what’s going on,” he said. “He understands why he needs to do it. He has been a good patient.” Riley says that he owes his high spirits to the necessity of the treatments. “I don’t really have a choice,” he said. “It’s not that bad, because it’s my only choice.”

There are many people supporting Riley as he undergoes treatment. “A lot of cards, e-mails, Facebook messages and kind notes have been sent to him,” Barry said.

Riley also gets support from his friends. “I’ve been there for him, just to make sure that he knows that I’m always there for him,” Luskin said. Sophomore Tyler Ziebelman said it is hard to visit him at times. “His immune’s system’s down a lot so it’s hard to visit if you’re coughing or something,” he said.

The science department provided an entire Thanksgiving feast for the Weinmann family complete with flowers and balloons. “I can’t tell you how much that meant to us,” Lettie said.

In addition to getting support from locals, Riley is also getting support from people in Kathmandu, Nepal, where he lived three and a half years ago. “There is a monastery of monks that’s praying for him in the Himalayas,” Barry said. “One of the teachers there asked them to include him in their daily prayers.”