- Radena Hampton
Rhabdomyosarcoma Cancer Survivor
Rhabdomyosarcoma Cancer Survivor
Patient Voices: Radena Hampton
In the weeks leading up to 2024, Radena Hampton was snorkeling in the light turquoise waters of Roatán, Honduras, with her family. With her daughters out of school, it was the perfect time for a getaway.
While snorkeling, Radena noticed some stiffness in her shoulder but didn’t think much of it. When she returned home and tried to lift her suitcase, the pain had worsened.
She went to urgent care, where she was prescribed steroids to reduce inflammation. Doctors expected it to resolve the issue, but the pain didn’t go away. Radena knew something wasn’t right.
She returned from another trip to see her primary care doctor and advocated for herself to get an MRI that same day. Thankfully, she did — the scan revealed a mass.
Radena underwent a biopsy on February 5, 2024. On Valentine’s Day, she received her diagnosis: rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare and aggressive cancer that develops in the soft tissues. Because it originates in muscle or connective tissue, it can appear almost anywhere in the body, making it difficult to treat.
Though mainly a childhood cancer, the disease can still affect adults. However, adult cases tend to be more aggressive and challenging to treat.
“I went to the chapel in the hospital after my biopsy and had my moment of crying and thinking, I just need to stick around for my girls,” Radena said. On her MRI, it appeared she no longer had a tricep. “The tumor was the entire length of my arm,” she said.
Radena was scheduled for surgery the day after her diagnosis to remove the cancer. To achieve clear margins — meaning no cancer cells are found at the edges of the removed tissue — doctors recommended removing her right arm.
“I remember my husband and I both crying and feeling very close to each other, agonizing over this decision,” Radena shared. “I kept thinking about how I didn’t want the next day to come because it was going to be horrible — what a horrible thing, to cut off your arm.”
Her care team planned a resection of the humerus, a procedure to remove the upper arm bone.
When the surgery was completed on February 15, 2024, Radena was “delightfully surprised to see I had a cute little shoulder left to still wear most of my things.”
Radena was referred to Carlos Rubin de Celis, M.D., a board-certified medical oncologist at Texas Oncology–Austin Midtown. He outlined a comprehensive treatment plan that included chemotherapy and radiation to target the remaining lymph nodes.
As the surgical site began to heal, Radena noticed a brown spot and suspected it could be a tumor. Dr. Rubin de Celis agreed it appeared to be tumor growth protruding through the skin. While chemotherapy was working, a second surgery was recommended instead of additional radiation. The second surgery involved the removal of Radena’s entire shoulder. “The surgeon told me we need to get it all so that you have a chance” remembers Radena. “And I was all about having a chance because I got to be there for my little girls.”
An aggressive cancer like rhabdomyosarcoma required equally aggressive treatment. The side effects were challenging, but Radena didn’t let them stop her from continuing to live her life.
She made time to visit her best friend in Kansas City and even traveled to Amsterdam to see Taylor Swift. Despite the toll of chemotherapy, “I was trying to live my best life,” Radena said.
At one point, Radena found another spot — this time on her leg — and felt discouraged. Doctors at her Houston clinic seemed certain it was more cancer and would require another four months of chemotherapy. In spite of their assumptions, Radena trusted her instincts and pushed for a biopsy. The results showed nothing concerning.
With just two sessions remaining, Radena and her doctors ultimately decided to forgo the final cycles of chemotherapy.
“I’ve been learning through this whole process that you really have to advocate for yourself,” she said.
Successful treatment allowed Radena to begin feeling like herself again. Once someone who owned seven wigs, she now proudly says, “I have my own hair. I got to start this year feeling like this is me.”
During the holidays, Radena adapted to new ways of doing things — wrapping presents using her feet and teeth — and began the process of being fitted for a prosthetic arm.
“I’m not shy,” Radena said. “We finally had our Christmas party again this year, and I wore a strapless dress. I go on stage with my kids’ theater group, River Place Student Theatre, in a little dress, and my scar is out there. I put it out there for the world to see.
In addition to receiving care at Texas Oncology, Radena was also supervised at a clinic in Houston. When comparing her experiences, she says she would choose Texas Oncology again.
“If you want to be treated on a more personal level and have somebody who’s going to help you advocate for yourself, Texas Oncology was a much better experience for me and continues to be.”
“The Texas Oncology experience made me feel like a whole person instead of just my cancer,” Radena said. “But I think the biggest thing it has done is change my outlook on everything, which has made me a better person.”
The information included in this testimonial is based on one patient’s unique experience and is not intended to represent all patient outcomes or expectations.
