In the summer of 2019, we had just come back from a family trip to celebrate Ezrah’s 2nd birthday and she was not herself during the trip. She was tired, slept a lot, and didn’t want to walk much. She had a few bruises on her legs as well. The few days before going to the ER, she had about a dozen bruises pop up. When we went in and showed them her legs, they told us to wait and we would be called back. It was 9:30 pm and we were called back right away even though there were about 15 people ahead of us. I knew right away it wasn’t going to be good. There were 3 doctors in there looking her over. They said she needs to be admitted right away and that they were sure she has Leukemia.
Ezrah has had a dozen lumbar punctures and she didn’t walk for 2 months due to leg neuropathy. She had an NG tube that we would change or replace as needed. She laid on the couch for 1 year since she didn’t feel well. In Feb 2020, we thought we were going to lose her- we were in the hospital for 15 days while they tried to figure out why she had a consistently high fever- and told us that it was probably a Muc infection and the prognosis was less than 5%. They took cultures and it never grew and finally, the fever just broke and we were able to go home.
We had to re-finance our home 2x during this journey. My parents sold their home in San Diego and moved around the corner from us exactly one week after Ezrah’s diagnosis so they could support us.
Cancer has completely changed us- we are not the same people we were before her diagnosis. It broke us down and yet built us back up. We lost friends and gained friends. We spend a lot more time together and have more mindful events together as a family. We have let go of the little things that don’t matter 5 years from now. Ezrah has taught us so much during this time with her own words – “Be happy mom!”, “I’m strong and I can do this!”, and “Cancer is going away mom, I can feel it.”
Hope session by Brescia & Suz Film & Photo | Instagram