Debi lay in her hospital bed filled with a mix of worry and hope. In front of her was a clear bag of what looked like ordinary blood plasma. But, in fact, the yellowy liquid was her body’s own reengineered immune cells ready to go to work.
These were no ordinary cells. They were CAR T cells, an advanced form of immunotherapy that would recognize and destroy the cancer growing in Debi’s body. She had been diagnosed with large B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and this treatment just might hold her promise of survival.
“I remember my excitement and fears on infusion day,” says Debi. “My room was full of doctors, nurses and staff eager to witness a CAR T procedure. That little bag of cells was my million-dollar breakthrough—my own modified immune cells being returned to me through sophisticated immunotherapy.”
Fighting a fast-moving disease
Debi’s health scare began in January 2024, when she started feeling unusually weak and chronically out of breath. Initially, she thought she had the flu. But within a few weeks, she could barely breathe and was exhausted all the time.
Blood tests, scans and a biopsy confirmed her diagnosis and Debi started chemotherapy under the trusted hand of Charles M. Farber, MD, PhD, an Atlantic Health Morristown Medical Center hematologist-oncologist. Despite a rocky start, her body responded well to treatment and she was transferred to Atlantic Rehabilitation Institute to rebuild her strength and stamina.
Two steps forward, one step back
But then came a setback. Debi began to develop severe headaches and doctors discovered the lymphoma had spread to her brain and central nervous system. Her condition was worsening—quickly.
“I quit my job as a Pilates instructor because I didn’t have the energy to teach anymore, and I was readmitted to Morristown Medical Center,” she says. “The nurses and doctors on the fifth floor—Simon 5—became my family. They literally kept me alive.”
A promise of CAR T immunotherapy
That’s when Dr. Farber and his colleague Mohamad Cherry, MD, medical director of hematology at Atlantic Health, determined that Debi was a perfect candidate for a new immunotherapy treatment called CAR T therapy.
“Debi had an aggressive form of lymphoma that spreads quickly throughout the body,” says Dr. Farber. “When it moved to her brain, we began to consider alternative treatment options and CAR T was the clear choice. It is a groundbreaking form of immunotherapy with remarkable success rates for specific blood cancers like Debi’s.”
The science behind the treatment
Dr. Farber collected Debi’s blood. Then, lab specialists spun it in a centrifuge to separate out the plasma and white blood cells. These genetically modified T-cells were intravenously reintroduced back into Debi’s body to multiply, circulate and attack her cancer.
For the next two weeks, Debi remained in the hospital under close supervision while her immune system grew stronger. She was sent home with a ramped-up immune system that would work around the clock to fight her cancer. And when she returned three months later to Dr. Farber’s office to review her firsts scan, she witnessed something remarkable.
Her scan was clean.
“Boring scans” are best
“I couldn’t believe my eyes, there was no sign of cancer,” says Debi. “And here I am a year later— there’s still no visible cancer in my body or brain. Dr. Farber says my scans are boring now, and that’s the best news in the world.”
Today, Debi is back to glass artistry and teaching Pilates. She’s incredibly grateful for her husband and family who stayed by her side through the whole ordeal, as well as for her Westfield neighbors for their support.
Debi also was invited to share her story at the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s annual Light the Night event, which honors cancer survivors and caregivers. “I walked with my Simon 5 team, my hospital family,” she said with deep affection. “Every person there had helped me in some way. The doctors, nurses and therapists are my people. They gave me my life back, and so did CAR T therapy. I’m living proof of what it can do.”
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