Tatiana Schlossberg
JFK’s Granddaughter Diagnosed with Terminal Cancer
Published
Tatiana Schlossberg — John F. Kennedy‘s granddaughter — has terminal cancer … and has about a year to live, according to her docs.
Tatiana, the 35-year-old daughter of Caroline Kennedy and Edwin Schlossberg, revealed she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in an essay published by The New Yorker Saturday morning. Her form of leukemia has a rare mutation called Inversion 3, making it harder to treat.
She was diagnosed just hours after giving birth to her 2nd child in May 2024, when her doctor noticed her abnormally high white-blood-cell count. Instead of being discharged with her newborn daughter, she spent 5 weeks at Columbia Presbyterian receiving chemotherapy.
She was briefly able to go through treatment at home, but then spent 50 days at Memorial Sloan Kettering for a bone-marrow transplant before being released back home with family for additional treatment.
Tatiana joined a clinical trial of CAR-T-cell therapy, a type of immunotherapy she said has proved effective against certain blood cancers, in January. With all the effort, she was told she might have a year left to live by her docs.
The environmental journalist and author also recalled how frightening a time it was when her cousin, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., was confirmed as the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Shortly after, doctors and scientists at Columbia — including her husband, George — had no idea if they’d have a job … and she didn’t know if she’d have medical insurance.
She also slammed RFK as an embarrassment to her family over his stance on vaccines and decision to defund medical research as he took over the department.
Tatiana is now focused on being present with her family, though she admits it’s harder than most would think. She also finds herself reliving memories from throughout her life, noting … “Sometimes I trick myself into thinking I’ll remember this forever, I’ll remember this when I’m dead.”
