Sienna is fun, she loves to tell jokes (they are the WORST!) She thinks she is hilarious and her laugh is contagious so even if the joke is terrible you end up laughing anyway!
She is smart and thoughtful and has a tenacity for living things and adventure. She loves to conquer a problem, will ask for help the first time and will talk herself through it the next (AMAZING to watch!) She cares deeply about all living things and can feel the pain of others.
Sienna got sick with cough and fever, it would start to go away and would come right back with the same symptoms. I brought her to the doctor because she was complaining of fatigue and her legs hurting, I thought worse case was she had a bit of pneumonia. She also had bruising but nothing unprovoked, she’s an active kid and got hurt playing all the time so I would think, “man she must have fallen or hit that thing harder than I thought.” She was diagnosed on October 16th, 2017.
Cancer has made us constantly afraid of any illness or symptom in both our children ( we were NEVER like that before!) We know that even when treatment is done our work is not over. We have had to miss so many things for fear of exposure, even Christmas with the family.
It has caused us, as parents, to lose a bit of who were are trying to survive the day to day and chronic exhaustion. However, cancer has taught us that life is short and you need to reach for what you want because there is no promise for tomorrow. In that respect cancer has made us better. As our survival mode lifts and we left with the after math, there is more purpose in the way that we approach each day and the lessons that we carry over to our children and the messages we leave behind.
Ísabel was diagnosed with ALL in March of 2016. Before her diagnosis, she had many fevers, was very pale, and had funny bruising. Also her heart rate was really fast when we took her in to see the pediatrician.
Ísa had three-plus years of chemotherapy treatment. It was horrible! She was temporarily paralyzed and the recovery took months. She is a year off of treatment but she struggles in different ways now, mainly with anxiety.
We are forever changed. We value family and do not take our time on early lightly anymore.
Before Olivia was diagnosed with cancer, we were noticing that she was becoming fatigued and bruised for a few weeks.
In the beginning, there were a ton of obstacles that Olivia had to overcome. Lots of needles in her chest, swallowing gross medicine, learning how to swallow pills, dealing with nausea, walking impediments, x-rays, labs, tests, lots of tubes & wires connected to her constantly, painful constipation, endless IV pole beeps, being woken up by your nurse all hours of the night, vomiting, pain, low energy, high energy, fevers, iv poles, sedation, medical terminology, hair loss, and being inspected by EVERYONE.
She had spent over 70 nights at the hospital the first year and although she enjoyed the adventures at the hospital and special mommy time, she truly missed being home with her daddy and little brother.
Despite all of these obstacles, she overcame. She was protected and has come through without any obvious negative side effects – the only side effect has been we all now have a deep purpose. Our family values and priorities have been changed for the better, seeing God’s hand at work throughout and prior to her diagnosis has given us true meaning, appreciation, and purpose for living.
We have been served by so many generous people and foundations and are truly only able to have gone through this joyfully by having the loving support of our community. We are thankful to have had this opportunity to blossom as a family, and not become embittered.
Adelaya is a ray of sunshine! She loves to sing and dance she laughs at just about anything. She loves the Disney princesses and any animated movie. She plays on her tablet often and loves animals!
In the fall of 2018, she was getting weird bruises all over her body and a hospital diagnosed her with an ear infection. She took amoxicillin and broke out from that and was on steroids for a few days. I scheduled a doctor appointment with a new pediatrician and she diagnosed her with ALL. We went straight to a local hospital and then transported to MUSC and stayed for a whole month.
She has had many spinal taps and lumbar punctures and she gets intrathecal chemo every now and then. She receives daily chemo at home.
In the summer of last year, Ryan was having fevers at night for almost 2 weeks (intermittent at times) and we were told it was viral and could last 14 days or more. Finally after pushing for blood work, we were given a definitive diagnosis of All by a hematologist at Hershey Children’s Hospital.
He has been through several spinal taps, blood transfusions, and chemotherapy treatments. He had a severe allergic reaction to one of the medications so he now has to bw admitted to the hospital to receive this medication.
Our lives have changed so much since diagnosis. You learn to live in the moment and not take anything for granted. I think we will always have that fear of this horrible disease returning, even after Ryan’s treatment is over.
Austin is an all-around boy. Very shy when you first meet him but once he opens up he is Mr. Talkative. He loves superheroes and dinosaurs. He could probably tell you the name of any dinosaur there is. He also absolutely loves Halloween!
On April 30, 2018, he was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia after suffering leg pains. He is finally in the maintenance phase of treatment and get past all the really hard stuff. He now has I.V. chemo once every 3 months and well as chemo in his spine. He takes at home chemo pills every day.
Through everything this kid has been through he is never seen without a smile on his face.
