The Truth 365

Today we honor Zoey Mae Smith. Her mother, Whitney, sent this in to us.

“Zoey Mae Smith was 20 months old at the time of her cancer diagnosis on September 5, 2015. She is currently 2 years old and has been treated for Pre-B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tn since diagnosis. Her MRD finally read negative on December 15, 2015. Treatment will continue for the next 2 1/2 years. During her first 6 months of treatment she has caught 3 fungal infections, several viruses, as well as several bacterial infections. She has been admitted to the ICU twice; once resulting in intubation for 5 days.

“She is currently trying to resolve neurological issues since extubation. She is slowly regaining her original neurological state. Deeper studies have shown that Zoey is at a very high risk for a relapse. Her oncology team have discovered two different genetic mutated leukemia cells, this discovery along with already knowing she has a resistant leukemia makes her team fear a possible relapse. Her team feels that staying on the current protocol with customized dosage of chemotherapy for Zoey is the best treatment option at this time. 

Today we honor Annara Cottrell. Her mother, Elizabeth, wrote to us, telling us about her daughter. 

“Annara is adorable. If you call her cute she will set you straight. She is 4 years old with Pre B Cell ALL. She was diagnosed in July 2015 after a year long worsening issue with casein intolerance for which she was hospitalized for pantocytopenia, after mom and dad pushing for an answer to her constant puking. Two days after admission, July 23rd, she was diagnosed with Leukemia, which was devastating to her family. She spent the first 35 days in the hospital and has had several admissions for various reasons and lots of transfusions. 

Today we honor Lane. His mother, Kim, sent this in to us.  

“All boy. This describes Lane so well. He has always been active, athletic and on the go! He loves football, J.J. Watt, playing baseball, and super heroes. Early last August, we started noticing bruises. We blew it off until they started appearing on his arms and lower back. 

“On August 7, 2015, I noticed petechia all over his chest. Long story short, he was life flighted from Corpus Christi, Texas to Houston, Texas with a white count of 617,000. Lane was VERY sick on the inside, but still the same little boy on the outside. On August 8, 2015, at 4 years old, Lane was diagnosed with very high risk pre B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. We felt like our entire world had come crashing down, our hearts were shattered. He was taken to the intensive care unit at Texas Children's Hospital where he underwent a life-saving procedure called leukapheresis to bring his white count down. He has been blowing doctors away ever since. 

Today we honor Elsa Wiemerslage. Her dad, Kevin, sent this in to us. 

Today we honor Kaelyn Hazelwood. Her mother, Kristen wrote in to us about her daughter. 

“August 2015, after taking 4-month old Kaelyn to a local ER for vomiting and extreme lethargy and being given the diagnosis of gas, Kaelyn's parents took her to Cook Children's in Fort Worth, TX. Given the same information as the last ER, the staff said a CT was needed, and a golf-ball sized mass was discovered in her brain. Not 12 hours later, Kaelyn underwent and emergency brain surgery to remove the tumor. The surgery was successful in removing the entire tumor, and took 11 hours.

“Pathology came back days later as Choroid Plexus Carcinoma. The chances of a child getting this type of tumor are 1 in 3 million. Due to the rarity of the tumor, Kaelyn was recommended to a clinical trial at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, TN. Kaelyn received IV chemo for 5 months while they lived there, and was able to go home a few times for breaks at the end of her IV chemo treatment.

Today we honor and remember Heather Leonardo. Her twin sister, Colleen, sent us this tribute. 

“Heather Grace Leonardo was diagnosed with cancer the end of May 2011, after being misdiagnosed for months. Early June we learned it was Rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare form of childhood cancer. She had two tumors, one in her tail bone and the other in her hip bone. Heather was not just in a fight, she was in a battle for her life, and she never gave up. After suffering through six rounds of chemo, she was declared cancer free! Unfortunately that only lasted a month when the beast returned. 

“The night of the Super Bowl in 2012, Heather had a seizure, which could only mean bad news. The next day the doctors confirmed our worst nightmare, the cancer had spread to her brain. At this point she was put into palliative care, in the comfort of her own home surrounded by family and friends. Heather passed away after a gracious and courageous 10-Month fight on March 31st 2012.

Today we honor Baby Nora. Her mother, Amanda, sent us this message telling us about Nora's very rare cancer. Nora celebrated her first birthday on March 30, 2016.

“Baby Nora was born with a blue bump on the top of her head. At first we thought maybe it was trauma from birth. But after 2 weeks it had not gone away. We then thought maybe it was a blue nevus. Her pediatrician referred us to a surgeon at 3 weeks old. He said it was best to go ahead and remove it, because if a baby is born with a nevus it is more likely to turn malignant. So surgery was set and it was removed when she was 7 weeks old. 3 pathology reports later it was confirmed to be pigment synthesizing melanoma. We were then referred to a hospital out of state that has a melanoma clinic.

“Surgery was set again to do the margins on her head, to make sure the melanoma was all removed. We had a few tests run the day before the surgery. The ultrasound showed "spots" on her liver. From there she had a MRI that showed 6 spots in her liver. We then did a liver biopsy that confirmed they were melanoma.  A pet scan then told us that she has cancer in her liver, lungs, lymph nodes, and tibia bone. By 4 months old she was diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma. I never ever would have believed a baby could be born with melanoma. It is very rare! The type that Nora has is also very rare. We then started a new drug that had just been approved by the FDA for adult melanoma. As far as we know she is one of the first babies to be on it.

Today we honor Brady Kier. His mother, Brooke sent this in to us.

“Our son Brady is 3yrs old and has been fighting hard to live, to have a childhood outside of hospital walls since his second birthday, 12/20/14! On Christmas Eve he was diagnosed with AML, M7 which is more common with kids that have Down Syndrome but Brady doesn't have Downs making it that much harder to treat.

“On Christmas Day of 2014 he began his first round of chemo and we began the fight to save our son! Brady is a son, a little brother to two amazing big sisters, a grandson, nephew and cousin. Brady has been through 8 rounds of chemotherapy only to be told that the leukemia blasts continue to grow and he was placed on hospice care in November 2015.

“Brady has fought from day 1 with such courage and strength and always has a smile no matter how bad he feels! After being placed on hospice we were given a time frame of 1-5 weeks, which he has thankfully surpassed with flying colors and is still running around rocking his favorite cowboy boots and cowboy hat despite his increasing pain!

Today we honor Daniel Hailpern. His mother sent us this tribute to her son.

“On June 6th, 2014, the first day of summer vacation of Daniel's 8th grade year he was diagnosed with an extremely rare form of Leukemia. APML (Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia) with a unique genetic component. On top of the Leukemia Daniel had a difficult infection in his hip that had spread and was causing him excruciating pain and complicating his entire treatment plan. He completely spiraled downhill into a long road of pain management complications. Not how any of us pictured spending our summer before high school. 

“After changing his "road map" several times until before a definitive diagnosis he was unable to achieve remission and it was determined that his best chance of survival would be a Bone Marrow Transplant. After three more grueling rounds of consolidation with multiple complications, Daniel never fully reached a sufficient level of remission and with each round took longer and longer to regain his numbers and get home for even a few days. No one in the family was a match so we needed to rely on the National Bone Marrow Registry to find Daniel's best hope. 

“This final round of ablation before transplant was the hardest of all, but on November 12th, Daniel received the gift from an angel and was graciously given his second chance at life. His graft took slowly but well and we were on our way home after 7 months of isolation. Only 10 days at home and we were readmitted to the hospital on Daniel's 15th birthday and boy did that suck. The road got much rougher when a variety of infections set in. Hoping the graft was holding while fighting so many infections was a delicate balance. 2 more months of isolation, complications feeding tubes, pneumonia, oxygen dependency, blot clots and much more and we were finally home. 

“All through treatment Daniel stayed positive and worked his way back to being strong in body, mind and spirit by walking in the halls every day. He relaxed to Animal Planet nature videos when necessary. He even finished walking a complete marathon on his last day in the hospital post-transplant. (Which is pretty impressive for a kid that was immobile and down to a BMI of 2.) He stayed in close contact with his school friends that kept his spirits high when isolation nearly drove him crazy and had a twice weekly 'in house' football show at the Seacrest Studio eventually becoming the Children's Hospital Colorado Denver Broncos Ambassador after the huge hit of his 'Broncos Go' video went viral. Staying on task helped Daniel keep his eye on the future and he managed to complete his freshman year of high school with honors before returning for his first day of 10th grade, 3 months ahead of schedule. 

Today we honor Emjay Hannod. Her mother, Suzy sent this to us. 

“Emjay Lynn Hannod is my 6 year old little girl who has benn battling medulloblostma brain cancer since June 2015. She has tumors throughout her brain and on her spine. One tumor has been removed, but she has 4 more on her brain, and 3 on her spine. She has had 5 surgeries, 45 radiation treatment, numerous seizures and a stroke. She is still undergoing chemotherapy. She has one brother named Dwayne, and three sisters named Faime, Sumner, and Hope, as well as one step brother named Cameron. Emjay loves to play with Barbies and watch Frozen. And she loves cheese balls! 

Today we honor Sydnie Silvery. Her mom, Meg, sent us this.

“Within the last 2 months my world has come crashing down- my BEAUTIFUL 12yo daughter Sydnie has had 2 surgeries and has been diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma Stage 2 B with a large mass in her chest. She will go into the hospital next week for her 2nd round of Chemo. She will have 6 months of chemo & 10 days of radiation.

“Sydnie is my full of life, wild princess who marches to the beat of a different drummer and will not let anyone or anything change that. Sydnie is a God fearing, smart, outgoing, fun loving and unbelievably strong willed young woman- and THANK GOD for that! Sydnie loves all animals, music (she's been in chorus for 3 years with her school), art, watching movies and texting her friends. Sydnie plans to learn to play the guitar & rock the world while helping animals as a Vet. Her hobbies include singing, listening to music, reading, swimming, shopping, hunting, riding 4 wheelers, and spending time with family & friends.

Today we honor and remember Alyssa Divers. Her mother, Lynn sent us this tribute.

“Feisty and funny, our firework, Alyssa, was only 8 when diagnosed with osteosarcoma. Yet, Alyssa was already a gymnast, tap, ballet and jazz dancer, gifted student and voracious reader. Alyssa’s creative imagination maintained a steady stream of activities for playtime with her sister, Lexie, (and school. Alyssa loved to sing, draw and create – whether a craft or a play, the noise from her section of the house always indicated a good time. She loved dolphins and sea turtles, her Bunnies and Cloud (stuffed animals and blanket), her family and friends, her iPad and any good book – though not necessarily in that order. Shy upon introductions, once familiar to Alyssa, you could find yourself tickled by stories, puns and words too big for someone so small. Funny, kind and clever, Alyssa enjoyed pointing out the grammatical errors on signs in the hospital. (Really! She discovered a misspelling on a sign placed in every single hospital room).

“When cancer stole her mobility, Alyssa hunkered down to determine what she could do. She continued to read…and read. She learned to play on that iPad and found ways to enjoy and engage her younger sister. With the help of physical therapy, Alyssa was hiking – even dancing again. Her community rallied around her slogan, Live Alyssa Live!!! No matter what, Alyssa did just that. When Alyssa’s final week of chemo protocol discovered a recurrence, Alyssa cried – then comforted her mother, ‘If you get so upset about what might happen, you won’t enjoy the time we do have.’ Alyssa continued to endure whatever necessary with a willing spirit and an open heart hoping for more time with her family. After Alyssa endured a leg amputation, she continued working on a dance piece for her spring recital and won her first blue ribbon horseback riding.