FunnyBlood_Stare_BW.tif | Chris Case Photography

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Karin Weidenhammer was 24 years old when she was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia.

She had come down with a sinus infection that persisted. Though we both assumed it was nothing, Karin--a medical assistant at the time--had her blood drawn and sent to the lab as a precaution. The results that sat in the fax machine the next morning were ominous:

Elevated WBC with 92 percent blasts consistent with Acute Leukemia.

Three days later, her parents were there on either side of her bed, unmoving, as the diagnosis was confirmed.

Filename: FunnyBlood_Stare_BW.tif
Copyright: Chris Case
Image Size: 5330x3553 / 18.1MB; leukemia cancer clinical documentary Thomas Jefferson Hospital dying death struggle survival funny blood acute myelogenous leukemia AML triumph ward hospital love sickness sick ill illness patient stem cell transplant bone marrow transplant disease Karin Weidenhammer
Contained in galleries: Documentary, People/Portraits, "Funny Blood"

Karin Weidenhammer was 24 years old when she was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia. <br />
<br />
She had come down with a sinus infection that persisted. Though we both assumed it was nothing, Karin--a medical assistant at the time--had her blood drawn and sent to the lab as a precaution. The results that sat in the fax machine the next morning were ominous:<br />
<br />
Elevated WBC with 92 percent blasts consistent with Acute Leukemia.<br />
<br />
Three days later, her parents were there on either side of her bed, unmoving, as the diagnosis was confirmed.