Nora was a happy, healthy toddler a year ago. She was dealing with the usual illnesses that seem to come at the start of the school year, and was having fevers, but nothing alarming. Then, in November of 2017, she started bruising quite easily. It wasn’t until petechiae started appearing that we knew something was wrong.
We brought her to the emergency room at Children’s Hospital and asked for leukemia testing. We just knew. The labs came back confirming the diagnosis. Her platelet and hemoglobin levels were dangerously low, and she required both transfusions and admission. It has now been 11 months since she was diagnosed. Nora is on the high risk protocol for ALL. She is in the maintenance phase of chemo treatment. We have about 1.5 years left of this chemo.
She is so tough! She has a fierce spirit and handles treatment very well. Thankfully, she has had a relatively smooth course so far. Her cancer diagnosis has changed much of our family life. Her complex treatment resulted in us both missing a lot of work, and we decided to make lifestyle changes, including moving from MN to TX, so one of us could quit our job and could stay home with her full-time.
With all the challenges and heartache, this has brought our family together. We feel stronger and more intentional within this new life, our new normal.
Hope session by Jenny LoBello Photography