What do you say to a 5-year-old baby when she has ALL? You retain it easy. For Julie Phillips, this meant telling her daughter, Blakeleigh, that she was sick and can be within the hospital for some time.
As a mom, although, nothing felt easy. She’d introduced her daughter in for top fevers. To search out out Blakeleigh had most cancers was “heartbreaking.”
Quick ahead to at the moment, and Julie’s bursts with gratitude for her daughter’s well being. The staff at UVA Well being Youngsters’s made certain that Blakeleigh felt comfy and unafraid whereas going via remedy. Everybody concerned feels optimistic and hopeful that Blakeleigh will get higher and higher. Watch her story for extra.
Julie Phillips: Blakeleigh may be very good. She’s very clever. She’s…. she’s a folks individual. She by no means meets a stranger.
Emily Moses, MD: So I first met Blakeleigh, and she or he was admitted as a result of she was having recurrent fevers, and we could not work out why.
Julie Phillips: So, they’d finished each check beneath the solar. Me and pa each stayed each evening. We by no means left her.
Emily Moses, MD: Our normal pediatrics staff really did a really intensive workup for an an infection. We weren’t actually discovering something, so we went forward and,… the diagnostic factor you do is a bone marrow biopsy to search for these leukemia cells. And we did that.
Julie Phillips: We stayed in right here for two weeks earlier than they came upon that she had the leukemia. We are available right here with excessive fevers and are available out with most cancers… prefer it was… heartbreaking.
Does Your Baby Have Most cancers?
Generally, it is laborious to know when to fret.
Emily Moses, MD: So, sufferers who’ve ALL, the leukemia cells, the place it is made within the bone marrow, crowds out the conventional cells which can be made there. So when the bone marrow cannot make these pink blood cells and platelets, then you may have signs of low pink blood cells, so anemia.
Julie Phillips: She was 5, so she actually did not perceive. All, , let’s imagine was, ,” you are sick and we now have to be on the hospital for some time, and you are going to should take drugs for some time.” I imply, they make her really feel like she’s protected right here. She, , she’s not scared to come back right here to do her remedies. They… they make it simpler.
Whitney Perdue, RN: It is nice to see Blakeleigh and see her come into clinic and are available over and provides me a hug.
Emily Moses, MD: She is doing rather well with remedy. We nonetheless see them month-to-month for the primary 12 months, and we’ll see her life, life-long.
Whitney Perdue, RN: The truth that she retains coming for lab checks and we do all these follow-ups, that is all a optimistic. So it’s going to get much less and fewer that we see her. And that is a great factor.
Julie Phillips: Hopefully, we solely have 3 extra months left of remedy. We’re praying we get there and…. that’ll be it. Taking a look at her, you wouldn’t know something was mistaken along with her. She’s similar to a standard baby.