Lymphoma survivor uses AI to help explain her treatment
June 20, 2025
Medically Reviewed | Last reviewed by Swaminathan Iyer, M.D., on June 20, 2025
Cate Heroman is a retired early childhood educator focused on children of preschool and early elementary age. She also volunteers in pre-K and first grade classrooms and has authored professional books for teachers’ curriculum.
“Part of my life’s work is taking complicated concepts and breaking them down so younger kids can understand them,” she says.
Her latest project? Explaining her cancer diagnosis to the children she interacts with, including her grandchildren.
Cate’s lymphoma diagnosis
Cate’s lymphoma diagnosis came after she began having severe back pain while driving from Baton Rouge to Houston for a funeral. She went to the emergency room thinking she had a kidney stone. Scans showed swollen lymph nodes in the back of her abdomen, and she was told to follow up with her doctor back home to rule out cancer.
After seeing her doctor in Baton Rouge, Cate was diagnosed with lymphoma.
“I talked to my sister who lives in Houston about my diagnosis,” says Cate. “She told me I needed to get to MD Anderson.”
Cate and her husband agreed that would be best. So, she made an appointment at MD Anderson’s Suspicion of Lymphoma Clinic to get an official diagnosis before starting treatment. After being evaluated at the clinic, she was diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, the most common type of B-cell lymphoma. She was 72.
Lymphoma treatment sparks creative way to use AI
Cate met lymphoma specialist Swaminathan Iyer, M.D., who went over her treatment plan. She would receive Pola-R-Chp, a type of chemotherapy used to treat diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.
She received her first round of chemo on April 9, 2025. As she was getting the infusion, she was on her laptop, trying to figure out ways to explain a cancer diagnosis to young kids without it sounding so scary. She decided to narrate the order of the chemo drugs into ChatGPT. Then ChatGPT used that information to create a story for the order of drugs.
“My nurse, Cris Moreno Escobar, was fabulous. When he’d come in to change out the chemo drugs, I’d show him what ChatGPT came up with for each drug and ask him if it was correct,” she says. “He’d tell me, ‘Yes, I can’t believe it!’”
Cate realized this could be used to help explain her cancer diagnosis to the children in her life. So, she used AI to make it into a comic book: the Super Squad vs. the Lymphoma Lurkers. Each chemo drug became a superhero with a special job to do, whether that was finding the “lurker” or calming down the system.
“Essentially, it’s a story of not feeling well, coming to MD Anderson where Dr. Iyer finds the illness and him telling me they’ve got a super squad to help me,” explains Cate. “It explains what lymph nodes are; they’re about the size of a kidney bean. And mine were much larger. So, the Super Squad has to come in and knock them out to make me better. I want to make things relatable and not too scary.”
Cate isn’t sure whether or not she’ll publish the comic book. For her, it’s more about bringing something complex and scary down to a child’s level of understanding.
“Kids may not know how to respond when you tell them you have cancer,” she says. “Using AI can help open up these conversations. Making each chemo drug a superhero gives them something their brains can make a connection with. It helps bridge the gap between what’s familiar and what’s unfamiliar.”
Cate has also used AI to help her understand some of the reports she receives through MyChart.
“If I don’t understand what the report is saying, I copy a section and tell ChatGPT, ‘Explain this in terms that a sixth grader would understand,’” she says. “That’s been very helpful. A lot of people fear AI, but it’s really about how it’s being used. It can be a good way to inspire creativity and get a jumpstart on something.”
Confidence in her care at MD Anderson
Cate is scheduled to complete chemotherapy in July. And she found out at her most recent scans that she is in complete remission. Though she doesn’t have anxiety around her treatment, Cate says the comic book helped her better understand the chemo drugs and the role each of them plays in her treatment.
“It brought it down to a simpler level to where when people of any age ask me about my cancer treatment, I can explain it in clearer terms,” she says. “And if I can explain it to a 4-year-old, that helps me even more."
So far, the toughest part of treatment has been losing her hair. But Cate has full trust and complete confidence in her MD Anderson care team.
“Dr. Iyer and his APRN, Eguono Maples, have been wonderful,” she says. “They always take their time and explain everything so clearly to me. Everyone at MD Anderson has been so kind. I’m in a good place spiritually, so I’m not scared. And I know I’m getting the best care in the world."
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