Survivor Series: Caelainn Engelbrecht

Caelainn Engelbrecht was just about to turn eleven when she was diagnosed with stage three cancer.

“When I was 10, right before my 11th birthday, I was diagnosed with germ cell ovarian cancer, and I was treated at Advocate Children’s Hospital in Oaklawn, Illinois,” Engelbrecht  said.

Engelbrecht received four rounds of chemotherapy. The treatments were spaced out every 30 days or so.

“My treatment was only four rounds,” she explained. “It was once a month for a week at a time. I was an inpatient.”

Now an adult, Engelbrecht has been in remission for several years.

“I’ve been in remission; it’ll be 20 years in September,” she said.

As Engelbrecht grew up battling cancer, her parents were often able to veil the seriousness of her diagnosis so that Engelbrecht could live a more normal childhood. 

“You get the information filtered through to you,” she said. “Adults are trying to protect your innocence as much as possible because, mentally, I think there’s only so much that they want to upload.”

Looking back now, Engelbrecht recognizes situations from her childhood that were directly linked to her cancer. However, she didn’t always make the connection as a child, given her young age.

“I couldn’t go hang out with friends, I had lower energy levels, things like that prevented me from doing a lot,” she said. “It wasn’t until I got a little bit older that I started to learn more about my cancer and what it entails so that I could keep up with my medical history.” 

Today, Engelbrecht is a mother herself. She has two children despite the low fertility rate connected to her childhood cancer. 

“I think a big area of buyership that people don’t think about is the fertility aspect of it,” she said. 

As an adult, looking back at her journey to cure her cancer from childhood, Engelbrecht realizes that her parents had to make some very tough decisions. What they went through as parents, watching their child suffer, is something that’s hard for her to imagine.

“The heartache of having to watch your child go through that, I don’t think that’s something I could ever prepare for just because of the amount of decisions that you have to make about your child,” she said. 

Engelbrecht is an active member of a cancer support and survivor group through Northwestern Hospital’s oncology division. As part of this group, she regularly interacts with childhood cancer survivors who are transitioning into adulthood. 

“When you transition into being an adult, people don’t always see you as a pediatric cancer survivor. I’m part of a program that specifically links you to doctors. They’re part of the star group at Northwestern who help survivors transitioning into adult remission,” she said.

As an adult living cancer-free, Engelbrecht is able to give back to those who are battling this terrible disease. She’s also able to be an active mother, daughter, and community member.