When you buy a non-refundable airline ticket, non-refundable usually means non-refundable. But after buying airline tickets for a family vacation, one grandmother learned she had cancer and couldn't travel. So she turned to NBC 5 Responds.
We first introduced you to Debra Schanbaum and her husband Mark last summer. They'd spent almost $3,000 on plane tickets for a big family vacation.
Months later, Debra was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. We got her money back, but doctors thought she'd likely never able to make that trip. But doctors aren't always right.
The Schanbaums booked tickets in January 2015 for themselves, their daughter and granddaughters. They'd planned to take the trip of a lifetime to Cancun's underwater museum. But months later, Debra was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
For six months, a hospital infusion room became a second home of sorts. She and her husband held out little hope of cure. They just wanted more time.
"It was bad because we knew pancreatic cancer was a death sentence," said Mark tearfully.
They hoped to take the trip before starting chemotherapy but Debra's doctor said that wouldn't be possible.
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"My oncologist said, 'No, you're having surgery that week.'"
After the surgery, she had 12 chemotherapy treatments -- each increasingly more difficult. Her final infusion was the toughest.
"It hit me like a hurricane. It was just -- I could barely move. I'm glad it was the last one," said Debra
She and her husband went to the hospital for more testing, hoping for good news. Days later, that news came.
"He [The doctor] said, 'There's no cancer that we can see right now. No cancer. So right now we can't see anything.' He said, 'Go have a good time and we're see you in four months'!" she said grinning.
It's not the outcome her doctors had expected. It's certainly not the outcome Debra expected.
"Honestly, I thought we would have already had my funeral," said Debra.
That's because pancreatic cancer is tough to treat. Her rare type is even tougher.
"I feel amazingly good. I really do. It surprises me, and it surprises most of the doctors that I go to."
So her remission now means that dream vacation was not a dream denied, just a dream deferred. She and her husband left for Kailua Kona Hawaii on Saturday, April 30 and are now enjoying sun, sand, and each other. Debra has a message for others in the cancer fight.
"Never give up. Never give in. You can survive it," she said.
Debra had an extremely rare kind of pancreatic cancer called Acinar Cell that, according to MD Anderson affects only 50 people in the country each year. Her treatment was successful and expensive. The refund from the cancelled vacation last summer helped them to pay off medical bills, allowing them to fully enjoy this much needed vacation.
