EDMONTON – A young Edmonton mother-of-two, who spent the better part of the past two years fighting cancer, has passed away.
“On Friday, February 7th our dear Jocelyn passed away peacefully,” a website dedicated to 24-year-old Jocelyn Ogrins’ journey read.
Ogrins’ battle with cancer began in May 2012. She was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma while pregnant with her second child.
After 12 rounds of chemotherapy, Ogrins was declared cancer-free. But less than six months later her cancer returned, and it was both Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma this time.
The young mother immediately started chemotherapy again and had an autologous stem cell transplant. However, in November she found out the transplant didn’t work.
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Following the advice of her oncologist, Ogrins began a new treatment, which was approved in Canada but not funded in Alberta.
READ MORE: Young Edmonton mother fights for drug funding for aggressive cancer
While going through that treatment, which family members say appeared to be reversing the size of her tumours quite dramatically, Ogrins and her husband travelled to Switzerland to receive training on how to fight her cancer using non-chemical approaches.
While abroad, Ogrins unexpectedly came down with pneumonia as well as a fungal infection in her lungs, and was hospitalized on Sunday, Jan. 19.
“She died at about 1:17 p.m. local time in the arms of her beloved husband while her parents held her hands,” the family’s website read.
“We still mourn from the immense hole her passing has left in all of our lives. Many unanswered questions remain, but we have faith that we sometime know all their answers.”
The cost of the Ogrins’ trip to Switzerland was paid for by family members, but the cost of Jocelyn’s hospital stay is expected to exceed $300,000.
For more information on Ogrins’ journey, visit the family’s website.
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