Inspirational Stories

On March 28, 2018, my husband brought Riley, my sweet, spunky six-year-old, to the emergency room for unbearable leg and hip pain, so unbearable she could no longer walk. I had a baby at home who wouldn’t take a bottle, so I had to let Tim, her dad, take her in without me. We were expecting to hear that she had a bone fracture or maybe even that something was broken.

We were not prepared to hear that she had cancer.

Every single day more than 40 parents will hear those exact same words, “Your child has cancer.”

In that instant, the mundane moments of life ― worrying about the messy house, activities for Riley, getting our baby to nap on a schedule, grocery shopping ― seemed like a luxury. Instead, my brain was flooded with images I’d seen of kids with cancer. Sick, weak, fragile, kids with no hair who were in the hospital.

In all honesty, I wasn’t connected to childhood cancer in any other way. I wasn’t aware of this monster and how it ravages families’ lives with no prejudice.

Riley, who had never in her life spent the night away from home, was told that she would spend at least a month in the hospital receiving high doses of steroids and chemotherapy.

Those first days in the hospital were scary, dark, lonely, and almost unbearable. We were later told that Riley also had a rare genetic mutation to her leukemia, iAMP21, making her high-risk and changing her treatment plan. She would now have to take drugs that could actually cause secondary cancers and heart irregularities, and the effects of chemo (like hair loss) would be expedited.

After almost one month, Riley was finally discharged and allowed to come home to see her younger brothers, 3 and 10 months old at the time. They were so happy to see her, and we were so glad to just be together.

In the coming days, we would have to go back to the hospital to have treatments that would last HOURS. This is where we met Hannah and Felicia for the first time. The care that these two ladies showed to Riley was amazing. They sat with Riley listening to her talk about Roblox and Kindergarten life with such intent and love. It was hard to believe we had just met them, they all had an instant connection.

They continued to support her by involving her in her school's Pennies for Patients (PFP) fundraiser. She was able to speak at schools to help encourage students to raise money, and they still (to this day!) check in on Riley regularly.

We are so lucky to have The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) on Riley's team! Thank you so much for all you do!