Jaime Kippenberger barely looks up when WPTV talks to her about her cancer journey because she’s busy with a project.
“I’m having so much trouble with this yarn,” Jaime said.
When we spoke to her, she was crocheting a Taylor Swift doll in her art studio at home. But you don’t have to look Jaime in the eye to realize her struggle. You can feel it through her words.
“It was a bit overwhelming. And I kind of blacked out,” Jaime said.
Completed crochet Taylor Swift doll by Jaime Kippenberger.
Jaime’s mother, Carla, was the first to notice that something was wrong with her then 16-year-old daughter.
“Jaime started saying, ‘Oh, I have to go to the bathroom because I’m always cold,’” Carla said.
For months, Carla insisted on seeing a doctor who would take her mother seriously.
“Some tests took all day and she probably took 30 vials of blood,” Carla said.
“Eventually, a large brain scan was performed, which showed a large tumor near the pituitary gland,” said Dr. Ziad Khatib, director of the neuro-oncology program at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital. “This is the part of the brain that produces all the hormones that are important to our body.”
Dr. Khatib showed WPTV the ping-pong ball-sized tumor on Jaime’s scans and further explained why the location of the tumor affects Jaime’s development.
“It was one diagnosis after another and another,” Jaime said. She alludes to other health issues she has experienced, such as a disorder of a gland other than the pituitary gland that made it difficult for Jaime to mentally process the weight of a cancer diagnosis. “It made me think, oh, this sucks. It wasn’t a real reaction. I was mostly numb during this time.”
Jaime Kippenberger during cancer treatment.
“My treatment included four rounds of chemotherapy,” Jaime said. “Then throughout June, I received 24 rounds of proton radiation every day except weekends.”
For about a year, Jaime returned from home to the hospital for treatment while also trying to keep up with her school work. Jaime’s mother was by her side every step of the way and worked remotely. She had to keep a job to pay her medical bills.
“If there’s only one word, crazy,” Jaime’s mother, Carla, said when describing this chapter in their lives. Jaime received his treatment partly during Covid-19, when social distancing and masks were still mandatory in hospitals. She also had an allergic reaction to one of the drugs she was taking, so she had to take strong sedatives from time to time to survive.
Jaime found that the chaotic nature of this chapter of her life made losing her hair during treatment seem not so bad.
“The only way I could get through this part of my life was to get treatment,” Jaime said.
Jaime Kippenberger during cancer treatment.
“July 2 was my last radiation treatment and I have been in remission since then,” Jaime said he was cancer-free for three years. “Nothing is 100% certain, so I’m just relieved that after year three, things are still looking good.”
WPTV partnered with the Chasin A Dream Foundation to surprise Jaime with two tickets to Taylor Swift’s concert in Miami. Jaime is a huge Taylor Swift fan and said she’s still trying to process the mega surprise, but she knows two things: she’s taking her mom as her stuffed animal and she plans to wear a sparkly outfit!
WPTV surprised Jupiter resident Jaime Kippenberger (19) with tickets to a Taylor Swift concert.jpg
Content only Scripps 2024
Leave a Reply