Scarlett was first diagnosed with Ph+ acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph+ ALL) in October 2016 when she was 2½ years old. Her specific gene mutation made the treatment a little harder than the typical ALL. She went through 2½ years of the very high-risk protocol for ALL — she sang and danced her way through it, actually. She has fond memories of playing with other kids and also loved all the nurses at UW-Madison Children's Hospital. Unfortunately, her parents remember all the other days too. She had numerous infections and long hospital stays — one visit was 56 days! She beat it! She was sad about not visiting her friends from the hospital, but we all celebrated.
Fast forward a few years, and at a routine checkup in Fall 2022, there were leukemia cells detected in her bone marrow. She relapsed. Plans were set up for a transplant. The best option that we chose was a haplo-stem cell transplant with her father as the donor. She received these cells on April 1, 2023. She dominated the transplant! Not surprisingly, she danced, played, and sang her way through. The singing was hard, with all the mouth sores. She didn't even need an NG tube, and that's not a common feat for children who get a transplant.
She is now 2½ post-transplant and rocking life. She does ballet, tap, musical theatre, modern, hip-hop, and lyrical dance classes at Rapids School of Performing Arts. She has been dancing since she was 3. She actually started dancing a few months into her treatment and missed performing in one recital because of her transplant. She also plays volleyball. She loves the stage, and her future plans are to be a singing actress like Sophia Carson. And she is a huge Taylor Swift fan!
Scarlett’s mother did a Team In Training (TNT) half-marathon for Blood Cancer United (formerly LLS) a long time ago in Madison, around 2008. Her mom has also done the Scenic Shore 150 Bike Tour three times (one of those was virtual). Scarlett has been an Honored Hero for Visionary of the Year Madison in 2024 and a white lantern holder for Light The Night (LTN) in Madison in October 2024.
Scarlett
Ph+ acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph+ ALL)
