The patients had survived childhood cancer, gone through chemotherapy and left in generally good health. But, every winter, they were showing up again in hospital beds and emergency rooms across Utah, unable to breathe.
What was making these kids who had overcome some of the worst illnesses — leukemia, tumors, lymphoma — so sick? Why was it affecting only their lungs when they didn’t have breathing problems before? And what was it about this particular group of survivors in this time of year?
For more than three decades, the trend continued. Most oncologists in the state knew about it, swapped stories and shared data with each other that they had observed in following up with their cancer patients.