In 2017, Mya was just two years old when diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML M6) in her central nervous system, which created solid tumors in her brain and spine.
Mya started having seizures in February 2017, after hitting the back of her head on a sliding board in our yard while playing with her big brother, Logan. After a few more seizures which led to several emergency room visits, an EEG was scheduled as well as an MRI.
While waiting for the MRI to take place, Mya started vomiting and complaining of headaches, so I insisted on an MRI right away and in March at The University of Maryland, the MRI showed that she had a tumor on her brain.
The doctors referred us to Johns Hopkins Hospital and Mya was admitted with the anticipation of having brain surgery to remove the tumor.
On March 20, the tumor was removed, and we were told that further treatment would be needed. While waiting for the results of the pathology, Mya recovered from surgery with a follow-up full-body MRI scheduled for April 7. That same day, we received the devastating news that Mya had a rare type of AML and that the brain tumor had already started growing back.
Mya was due to be admitted into the hospital on April 11 to start treatment but on April 10, she had another seizure. She was admitted to the hospital that evening and started chemotherapy on April 11.
Mya has had aggressive treatments such as chemo, IT chemo, 22 radiations to her brain, 12 radiations to her spine, and a bone marrow transplant. She landed in the PICU in October 2017 for three weeks with pneumonia and then in February 2018 for close to nine months with a swollen spinal cord.
During that time, she developed Adenovirus as well as many other countless infections due to her immunity.
In July that same year, we noticed that her vision had changed and needless to say, she was going blind.
After so many scares and only a 15% chance of survival, she was finally able to come home in January 2019, where she remains to this day.
Mya has brain stem damage as well as damage to her spinal cord C1 - C4. She is currently on a ventilator on one liter of oxygen, she is also quadriplegic and blind from treatments.
We were told that Mya is the only child in this country with AML M6 (solid tumors brain and spine) and that she is truly a miracle.
Mya remains in remission since December 2017, she can no longer have any treatments if cancer ever decides to come back.
We enjoy every day that she gives us.
The love that she has for our family is indescribable, her sassy attitude, her stubbornness goes along with it.
We call her Mya Bee!
Mya
acute myeloid leukemia (AML)
