Ella Joy was first diagnosed with Leukemia when she was 4 in 2013. She went through 2 and 1/2 years of chemotherapy, and unfortunately, she relapsed in 2017 on St Patrick’s Day.
We took an emergency flight to Seattle Children’s Hospital. She went through high dose chemo, total body irradiation, and cranial radiation to try to get 90% cancer blasts in her bone marrow and the cancer in her spinal fluid to zero cancer. She needed a bone marrow transplant, and her baby brother donated his bone marrow to help her fight for her life a second time. We were in isolation for over one year.
Now, Ella Joy has a higher chance to relapse post transplant. Oncologists have told us she would suffer brain damage from all the high dose chemo and radiation. Her face could have been distorted and she could have been in a wheelchair longer, but thank the Lord, she seems to be doing much better now, and people may not even know she had cancer two times, her hair is even growing back!
Ella Joy’s cancer has changed our lives, both times. She has been such a fighter through both times fighting for her life. She never once complained, but always trusted in God and the prayers that were stored up for her. We never take one moment for granted but we cherish every moment that we can be together and make memories as a family. We pray for the cancer to never come back again, we pray for zero cancer and negative MRD, and that all cancer cells would be eradicated forever. Ella Joy is a special fighter. She is such a joy to our family, and she is a light to all those who hear her story.
Hope session by Lindsay Chan Photography | Facebook | Instagram