The last week of April, Hazel seemed to have some sort of bug or virus. She had a few days of pretty high fever and vomited a couple of times. By the end of the week, we thought she was over it. Then the next week she began to complain of leg pain. We thought it might be growing pains or she was sore from all of her usual rambunctious running and jumping. By mid-week, she didn’t want to walk and started to cry when we would sit her up in bed to pick her up. We had to carry her to her meals and to the potty, and a mild fever returned. I called the doctor and they said to go to the ER. Everyone thought it was a blood-borne bone infection at first. We found out that Hazel had cancer on May 11, 2020, the day after Mother’s Day. We found out it was stage 4 Neuroblastoma the next day.
She will be in treatment through most of 2021: another cycle of chemo, then two rounds of very high-dose chemo with stem cell transplants to rescue her bone marrow, radiation, immunotherapy, and retinoid therapy. That’s the standard treatment, which is subject to change if cancer progresses during treatment at any point.
Between covid and cancer, the isolation is becoming unbearable. Hazel longs to play with friends, but obviously, we are worried about exposing her to germs with her suppressed immune system. I also think people are afraid to be around us, lest they unwittingly expose us.
We are all struggling and afraid. My sweet six-year-old boy loves his little sister fiercely and his behavior is suffering. He is worried and he’s trying to process that he could lose his sister. He’s jealous of all the attention she’s getting and then he has to deal with his guilt for feeling that way. My husband and I are so stressed out and feel so helpless.
Hope session by Amanda Orleman Photography | Facebook | Instagram