Published: October 27, 2026
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
It wasn’t supposed to be a big deal.
Barbara Cook was simply shaving her legs.
But as she ran the razor over her left thigh, she found it in her left groin area — a lump the size of a gumball.
“I just felt it, and I felt like something wasn’t right there,” she said.
She told herself to keep an eye on it. That wasn’t difficult. Within three days, her gumball-sized lump nearly tripled in size.
She scheduled an appointment with her family doctor. A CT scan and biopsy followed. Then came the call.
“They told me it was non-Hodgkin lymphoma,” she said. “And I said, ‘Oh, OK.’ I don’t think it was a shock to me. I was really [telling myself], ‘OK, let’s get this done.’ I don’t [think] I ever shed a tear over it.”
Admirable, yes.
But Barbara already had learned something about facing cancer. She would lean on those experiences to get herself through her latest diagnosis.
Barbara’s first experience with cancer came in March 2024.
Doctors removed half of her thyroid after discovering a malignant tumor. She did not require chemotherapy or radiation, and the remaining thyroid tissue appeared cancer-free.
For a year and a half, life returned to normal.
Then, just before Christmas 2025, she got another unwelcomed diagnosis.
Cancer had returned, requiring a complete thyroidectomy. As if a second round with cancer wasn’t enough, she developed a severe infection, one that came dangerously close to becoming septic — and lingered for months.
Finally, in February 2026, she was free of both cancer and infection.
Barely a month later, she found the “gumball.”
“Around April 1, this thing pops up,” she said. “So I said, ‘Well, let’s go ahead and get this done and get this over.’ But of course, this trek is a lot different than the thyroid.”
In May, she met Don A. Stevens, M.D., hematologist/oncologist with Norton Cancer Institute, who outlined her treatment plan. On June 5, Barbara began chemotherapy, the first of six scheduled treatments that would continue through mid-September.
“With [my thyroid], there was no chemo or anything,” Barbara said. “I just needed to have it removed. But for this, the chemo was rough. So, it’s different, but I’m 58, and I’ve been through this before. So, I just took it one day at a time and kept going, knowing Dr. Stevens and the whole Norton team have been … I couldn’t ask for any better care, really.”
As Barbara continued to respond well to the chemo treatments, Dr. Stevens approached her with a unique opportunity — a chance to help advance the future of cancer care. All she had to do was provide a fingertip.
This summer, Norton Cancer Institute became one of five sites in the United States to participate in a clinical trial evaluating the usability of PointCheck, a new, noninvasive technology designed to monitor chemotherapy-induced neutropenia.
The device images blood flowing through capillaries in a patient’s finger to help determine whether white blood cell levels are dangerously low, all without a blood draw.
If the device detects severe neutropenia, a critically low level of infection-fighting neutrophils (a type of white blood cells), doctors can intervene sooner and potentially prevent severe infections.
“Any opportunity to gather meaningful clinical information without an additional needle stick is worth exploring,” Dr. Stevens said.
The issue is critically important for patients receiving chemotherapy, because neutrophils serve as the body’s frontline defense against bacterial infections. When those levels drop, even routine infections can become serious.
“The number of neutrophils in your circulation is impacted by chemotherapy,” Dr. Stevens said. “For our patients, especially our blood cancer patients, it’s important we deliver sufficient chemotherapy to cure their disease, not just treat it. Unfortunately, one of the side effects is the body’s bone marrow temporarily stops making these neutrophils. When the count falls, infection risk goes up.”
Until now, monitoring neutropenia has required a blood test. Patients often must travel to their appointments, undergo lab work and wait for results before learning whether treatment can proceed.
If successful, PointCheck eventually could allow patients to check their neutrophil levels at home, saving time, travel and unnecessary appointments.
“The way it is now is if you didn’t have a thermometer at home and had to come to the doctor’s office every time you wanted your temperature taken,” Dr. Stevens said. “Think about how inconvenient that is for patients. This trial is so exciting, and will ultimately, presuming the study has a positive outcome, radically change how patients are cared for moving forward.”
In August, Barbara became the first patient in Kentucky to use the device.
“I know from personal experience,” Barbara said. “My mother needed a liver a transplant in 1999, and I had to take her all the way downtown to the hospital — 25 miles one way, three times a week — to get her labs drawn. So this is very important to me. I would love to see something put in place for people who have problems getting to get their labs drawn, or don’t feel well enough to get up out of the bed. So, I think it’s great.”
On Sept. 18, Barbara received her sixth and final chemotherapy treatment at Norton Cancer Institute – St. Matthews.
Three rings of a bell signified the end of treatment and the conclusion of her third battle with cancer in less than three years.
Now, she’s looking ahead.
She plans spend more time with her grandchildren. A trip to Florida may be on the horizon. Most of all, she’s grateful to be planning for the future instead of planning around treatments.
Participating in the PointCheck clinical trial won’t change what she’s already endured. But Barbara hopes her involvement may one day help make the cancer journey easier for someone else.
For her, that possibility made the decision easy.
“Dr. Stevens sees this as a very important breakthrough if it could come to fruition,” she said. “But I believe that anybody, as long as they’re physically able to do a clinical trial, should go for it. I knew in this case, participating in my trial wasn’t going to help me per se, but that doesn’t matter. I want to help the people ahead of me.”
According to Dr. Stevens, patients like Barbara are the reason medical advances happen.
“She’s incredibly courageous, like all our patients are,” he said. “I admire and respect our clinical trial participants. We can’t do it without them, and we can’t make things better without them. So, their willingness to help translates into real benefits for future patients.”
Find out if there is a clinical trial that can be a part of your journey.