Hannah is pretty shy at first. She loves reading and writing stories. She love stories about dragons and fairytales. She love computer games like almost every other kid and she enjoys swimming. She’s a sweet girl.
She was 6 months old at the time of diagnosis. She started regressing, was not able not sit up like she used to, not eating well, and crabby. We also noticed a bump on the top of her head which ended up being a chloroma which is a cluster of leukemia cells. When we finally got the diagnosis of Acute Myeloid Leukemia,her white blood cell count was 103,000. A normal WBC is between 4,500-11,000.
She completed her treatment plan of chemotherapy, many bone marrow aspirations and bone biopsies. She spent almost 7 month as an inpatient while receiving her chemotherapy. Though she doesn’t remember too much about it, she knows what she went through and she is a proud survivor!
She will be 10 years cancer free this year! Now that she is almost 10 years cancer free, our lives have become normal again.
Rylee was diagnosed with AML leukemia Oct 26th 2017 at 18 months old. Rylee had no signs or symptoms. She fell one day which resulted in a split lip. We took her to the family doctors to ensure no stitches were needed and the doctor noticed she was pale. Initially thinking she had low iron he sent her for blood work. The blood work came back shown leukemia cells in her blood.
Rylee immediately starts chemo. From there, we had another round in Dec 2017. On Jan 5th 2018 we were finally given good news that Rylee had go into remission. Her maintenance phase of treatment could begin. She received one more round of chemo before her bone marrow/Stem cell match from her big sister Abigail.
Having three children it was hard to uproot our daily life. The older kids had their school, that was their biggest supporter. But from going to having a normal routine to only seeing one parent at a time and don’t get to see their baby sister was a huge adjustment.
Rylee is an active toddler who didn’t let cancer slow her down! Rylee is a true warrior. She went through chemo and transplant with the biggest smile on her face.
Emma has a quiet but funny personality. She loves to joke around and make up raps. She has a soft spot for animals, especially puppies. She very much enjoys playing Minecraft with her younger sister. She loves art. She is involved with Girl Guides and enjoys helping younger children.
Three years ago she was getting constant headaches with extreme thirst and nosebleeds. After taking her to the doctor, we discovered she had Acute Myeloid Leukemia or AML. Emma ended up being hospitalized 51 weeks! She has been through so much including two rounds of chemotherapy, bone marrow transplant, and numerous bone marrow aspirates and LP. She had a sepsis episode resulting in 23 minutes of cpr and three and a half weeks in the ICU. She was confined to a bed for 10 months.
This has been the most challenging last three years. We have prayed and fought for our daughter like never before. We witnessed miracles that she is still with us as she was given less than a 1% chance of survival. Emma told us that she always thought she would come home, that she would live. She has been through so much and ended up missing about two years of school. She has just started high school and is so excited to be there. We are incredibly blessed!
Nico has a heart of gold. Who ever he meets along his journey feels blessed to know him. He is one of a kind. No matter how bad things are he always manages to smile. He always has a positive aspect in life. He loves to play xbox1, sing, color, play and hang out with his friends.
The only cancer symptoms he had was a fever and sore throat. He was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia on Dec 11,2014. His treatment consisted of a lot of chemo, full body radiation, and a bone marrow transplant. Sadly he relapsed 15 months later after his bone marrow transplant. He had to go through more chemo and a second bone marrow transplant on November 9, 2016.
Nico is a amazing little boy. Where there is a way there is a will. He never, ever gives up hope.Seeing what my son went through I do believe in miracles. Nico is one of Gods miracles. He is my hero. There isn’t a day that goes by that we feel so blessed that he has come this far. We live life to the fullest because you never know what the future holds for us. It is our hope that he can shed some light and hope to other families battling as well.
Erika was born a fighter. Having an extra chromosome, I believe, does that to you. She had some difficulties right after she was born. She had to have surgery to repair a duodenal stenosis and had to be tube fed for a while. She overcame it all. She took her time learning to walk and talk, but she accomplished that too. She attended daycare and preschool and now school along with her typical peers.
Erika is a sassy little diva. She loves to dance and sing and she loves to be on stage. She still loves Elsa from Frozen, but she also loves Teen Beach Movie and High School Musical. She’s fond of Daniel Tiger Neighborhood and Sofia the first. She loves playdoh and painting and coloring as well. She likes to listen to Kidz Bop. She also enjoys playing with her dolls. She enjoys going to the park and swimming. She loves to read and play games like Mario Kart.
We were devastated when she was diagnosed with leukemia on May 27, 2017. We live in Valdosta and we have to travel to Jacksonville (2 hour drive) frequently for her treatments, blood and platelet transfusions, etc. So far she’s had to be hospitalized twice for fevers and once for seizure-like activity. All of her chemo is done in Jacksonville. We are getting ready to enter the next phase of her treatment. She will need inpatient chemo for 2-4 days.
We have gas and now car maintenance expenses because our car needs a new set of tires. We are glad to have the Ronald McDonald House helping us with lodging though. Our lives have completely changed and I am unable to work because I’m caring for my daughter, but I wouldn’t change it for anything.
Because I’m traveling so much with Erika, I have missed out on spending time with our other two kids. I feel like I’m disconnected with my teenager (more so than normal), and my baby girl is feeling left out, but, I try to make it up when I’m home and try to spend time with them when dad is home. Erika has only been able to go to school a handful of times since school started the beginning of August, she’s either been in chemo or too weak to participate. We also have to watch her ANC numbers. If they are below 1000 we have to keep her at home due to her extreme susceptibility to getting sick.
Even with all we have been though, I believe that she will overcome this because she was born a fighter!
Courtney is very spunky. She has quite the sassy girl attitude and loves to laugh. She is will always tell you what she is feeling and thinking and she is not afraid to do just that. She loves to dance around in dresses and be a princess. She is a total fashionista and loves to go shopping with mom and match her outfits for the day. She also loves to drag race with her daddy. She can’t wait until she is old enough to have her own jr dragster.
A routine doctors appointment turned into something serious. On March 8th 2017, our sweet and sassy Courtney was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia or AML. She has had 4 out of 5 chemo therapy treatments. Each chemo therapy treatment requires at least 30 days in the hospital. She has all the typical symptoms of chemo like nausea, tiredness, soar muscles and joints, swollen gums.
This cancer diagnosis has definitely changed our family. We have a lot less time as a family of 4 to spend together. My husband has been using his vacation time to take an extra day off every week to be able to go up to the hospital and be with her for 3 days a week while I go home and spend some time with our 1 year old son. While my husband works we have had to find a babysitter for our sone as well.
It has also changed things for the better. We cherish every moment we get to spend together and we are always looking to go out and do fun things. We have also decided that once this cancer diagnosis is over we are going to travel and experience things. Watching the Discovery channel is just not good enough anymore. We want to be there in the moment and experience first hand new cultures and places.
