In January 2020 Zoe, 2.5yr old at the time, had an ear infection. This was only her second ear infection ever, as she thankfully had been a very healthy baby and toddler. After 2 rounds of antibiotics the infection cleared, but she never seemed to fully ‘bounce back’ to her playful self. We noticed that she still remained lethargic at times and we became much more concerned when one evening I felt swollen lymph nodes on the back of her head and my husband noticed petechiae on the upper left side of her chest. I took her to the pediatrician the next day, 2/13/20. As a former pediatric nurse I feared the worst, but so hoped there was a simpler, less life-changing explanation. At the doctor’s office her hemoglobin was only 6 and the pediatrician shared my concerns: this looked like it could possibly be lymphoma or leukemia. She called ahead to let Scottish Rite ER know we would be on the way. I called my husband and had to tell him over the phone that my worst fear was now likely correct. We had a dear friend and then my mom come and stay with our 6yr old son. We quickly threw some clothes and other items in a bag and tried to hold back my tears as we hugged our son goodbye, only telling him for the time that Zoe needed to go to the hospital and see another doctor. After a few hours in the ER we were told our daughter did in fact have leukemia and that we were being admitted to the AFLAC unit. I was 5 months pregnant at the time and hated being away from our oldest son. The next day we cancelled our Valentine’s Day date reservations and instead we met with an oncologist and learned more specifically that she had high risk B-cell ALL. Our first admission lasted 19 days only to have to be readmitted 5days later for neutropenia and fever. She was admitted again in April for the same thing and that time only one parent was allowed to stay. She also had 4 planned admissions last summer for 24hr chemo and fluids (our youngest son was born in between these admissions and joined us for the last 2 hospital stays), 2 ICU day stays so she could receive a very important chemo that she is allergic to, as well as the many weekly clinic visits and lab visits for count checks and covid screenings. She had another admission for fever and neutropenia last November that lasted 9 days. She is now in maintenance phase and doing very well with about a year left of treatment. We still feel like we’re processing the fact our daughter has cancer some days. After many, many days of feeling like we were just in survival mode, we’re thankful to begin feeling that we can have some normalcy again. This journey has brought a lot of the emotions and realities to the surface. Watching your silly, sassy 3 year old feel so terrible that she only wants to stay in bed or lay in your lap all day as you rub her head while the rest of her hair falls out is heartwrenching; there’s no denying your child has cancer at that point. We’ve had many joyful, happy days though as well. We have met new, dear friends and groups who have supported and cared for us so well! CURE not only was there immediately after diagnosis, but they’ve been there continually for us with meals during hospital stays, offering counseling services that were incredibly helpful for us as parents as well as Zoe’s older brother, and so much more! God has been so abundantly faithful and good throughout all of this and has shown us so many times that He is right here with us every step of the way. We are so thankful that Zoe’s body has responded so well to treatment, that her side effects have been minimal, and that her prognosis is excellent. We hold tightly to the promise of Romans 8:28 that He will use all things, even this, for our good and His glory! This journey has made us so thankful for all the ‘little things’ in life, how much closer our family has grown together, and the precious family and friends who have come around us to love and support us so well!
