Leukemia

Ciara and Liliana were born a few years apart and grew up in a happy home with their mother, Heather and father, Danny. I would describe Ciara, age 7, and Liliana, age 5, as always smiling, always playing, always pretending, always hiding and always giggling. Happiness was contagious when you were around them.

In 1990, I was diagnosed with M3 acute myeloid leukemia (AML) - now known as acute promyelocytic cancer (APL) - when I was a twenty-year-old college student studying abroad in Northern England.

The last conversation I had with my daughter Sonny was one that I will never forget.  As she sat there exhausted from the leukemia and CDiff and sepsis that was ravaging her body; we talked about how much of a fight she put up.  She could only respond with a short, “I know Momma”.  To which I replied, “You don’t have to fight anymore baby.” Again, “I know Momma”.

When the doctor calls you and says, "I need to speak to you as soon as possible," you know the news can't be good. I was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of leukemia, blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN). Most doctors have never even heard of it.

In September 2013, our six-year-old daughter, Jordyn was diagnosed with T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma— a diagnosis no parent ever wants to hear. Within a day of diagnosis, she already started chemotherapy. Numerous lumbar punctures and blood transfusions soon followed. Our life had changed in an instant.