Ava was diagnosed with leukemia in August 2023. In the weeks leading up to her diagnosis, she was unusually fatigued, developed unexplained bruising, and didn’t want to walk—symptoms that quickly became serious indicators of something much bigger.
Since then, Ava has been undergoing chemotherapy. Unfortunately, her journey has come with added complications: a recent biopsy revealed a clone that could make her resistant to treatment, along with abnormalities in her myeloid cells. Another biopsy is underway to reassess her condition, and her care team is awaiting results from a specialized myeloid panel to determine the next steps.
Ava’s diagnosis has reshaped life for her entire family. Social events and vacations have been put on hold to protect her from illness, and collision activities like soccer or gym are off-limits due to dangerously low platelet counts. Like many families walking this road, they’ve also faced mental health challenges and now rely on therapy and psychiatry to help navigate the emotional toll.
But despite it all, Ava is such a bright, imaginative, and loving child. She lights up at the chance to do crafts or dive into pretend play. She adores helping with her baby sister and is currently obsessed with dinosaurs. Her gentle, curious spirit shines through even during the hardest moments.
Her family wants others to know how important the bone marrow registry is—not only for Ava but for countless kids like her. Signing up could truly save a life.
Audrey was diagnosed with AML on January 3rd. She is currently in remission!! She is one spicy and full of life 2 year old. She has two older brothers that she adores. Her dad, Jeremy, also had leukemia when he was 2 years old so this really hit home and was hard for me.
Before her diagnosis, she was moody, easily irritated, didn’t want to eat, and was sometimes listless. We went in on July 4th, 2023 to see ER doctor. They did labs and we were quickly careflighted to Cook Children’s in Fort Worth. After 3 days- they didn’t find anything. We went home and on Jan 4t, 2024 she awoke with a horrible bloody nose. We came to Cooks and here we are.
Her diagnosis required her and I to pretty much live in the hospital. Her treatments are a month long at a time so we pretty much live here which leaves my husband and 2 boys (ages 6 and 5) at home. It has really been a season of growth.
Adelina has always been a happy and energetic child. In early 2023, we felt she had never-ending cold symptoms and after taking her to the pediatrician multiple times, they brushed it off as normal. Fast forward a few weeks, Adelina began throwing excessive tantrums in which she would intentionally hit her head against hard surfaces. This led to petechiae & bruising popping up on her face, which ultimately caused concern for us (parents) and we took her to the ER. She was diagnosed with AML on May 30, 2023.
Adelina has successfully completed 3 rounds of chemo treatment. Each round has been different from one another. She has received 2-3 chemo drugs over several days with each round. At the end of each round, she has an EKG and ECHO done, along with a Lumbar Puncture & Bone Marrow Aspirate. This doesn’t include all the other meds she receives daily to prevent infections.
On the few days we do get to spend at home between rounds, Adelina is mostly sheltered. We sometimes see our immediate family as long as no one is sick, but she also can’t be in crowded places or visit the local playground. When we’re impatient, she does not get the opportunity to play with other kids because all the kids on her side of the floor are immunocompromised.
Everything has changed. Being that we spend 4 to 5 weeks living at the hospital, we don’t get to create new memories or start new traditions with our daughter. Her diagnosis has also paused us to continue to grow our family. While we should be taking the time to focus solely on her, both Dad & I still need to work to pay our regular bills & now the additional medical expenses that we never anticipated.
Chemo has dimmed so much of her positive light. She used to laugh & smile all the time, but now we fight just to get a smile out of her. Adelina loves her cousins, and whenever she sees them – she lights up and laughs at everything. She loves to climb & explore, absolutely loves the outdoors, she enjoys playing with toys that she can pull apart or build back up. More than anything, she loves water! But because of her broviac, she can’t get wet. She loves to play guitar like her dad and sing, even though we have no clue what she’s saying.
Melissa was diagnosed this year on January 20th with Leukemia, at the Emergency Room, but was later described as having High Risk Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Melissa donated blood at her school’s campus before and in January it would be her second time and she was super excited since she would be earning a chord for her graduation gear. She completed the donation on a Wednesday and by Friday she got a call to immediately for to the ER because they were worried her labs came back with cancerous levels. Symptoms were not noticeable and the only one she could think of was being extremely tired, but she shrugged it off since she was working a lot. But once getting information on other mild symptoms she checked off a lot of them.
She has gone through 3 rounds of harsh chemo with every cycle being around a month in-patient. However since she was considered high risk, her only option for cure was a bone marrow transplant. Thankfully her brother was a perfect match and we have had a lot of ups and downs but we’re happy that we are together as a family finally. But we have faced a lot of difficulties with me and Melissa having to give up our jobs losing a source of income and the distance to the hospital being large so gas has always been our issue.
We were separated for months at a time but we have all been so much closer, closer than ever we don’t want to miss a single second and we all love to have fun, especially with the new addition to our family, my first granddaughter, Mila.
Braelyn was diagnosed on May 30, 2020, on her 3rd birthday. She unfortunately relapsed in June of 2021 and received a bone marrow transplant in Oct 2021.
She did great after treatment the first and second time but unfortunately after her bone marrow transplant in 2021 she suffered a brain injury in December of 2021. She lost her ability to walk, talk, eat, or even sit up on her own. She is now in a wheelchair and also in kidney failure due to the treatment. She does dialysis 3 days a week in addition to 3 days a week of therapy. She will need a kidney transplant but will not be eligible until she is in remission for 2 years.
Her cancer diagnosis changed everything. We had to relocate to be closer to the hospital and she now has lifelong health complications.
Braelyn has been fighting for so long and has accomplished so much that I want to celebrate her! She has been in such a good place since getting discharged last year to even think about this but I think now is the time to celebrate the wins and be proud of where she is now!
