Be aware, cancer aware!

~Getting ready for dance, days b4 diagnosis~

Did you know that childhood cancer is the number 1 child killer in America? Every year over 12,000 kids are diagnosed with cancer. That's 46 kids a day. Out of those, 7 will die everyday. So many children go misdiagnosed for months. Bella included. It's a good thing Bella's leukemia wasn't as aggressive as some or she wouldn't be here today. Do you know the signs? I know you sit here reading this thinking it will never happen to me so I don't need to know. And most of you would be right but I didn't think I would ever be here either and look where I am today. The sad thing is when I was young I used to read books by Lurlene McDaniel. She wrote about the likes of cancer and as I got older I started reading Jodi Picoult. I'm sure many of you are aware of the book my sisters keeper where the girl has leukemia. APL to be specific. Anyways, my point being is I thought I knew the signs, but I didn't know enough of them. If I did, Bella would have been diagnosed weeks before she actually was. For months Bella had been having unexplained fevers. Every time I would take her to the doctor they would just write it off as a virus and just tell me kids get fevers sometimes. It's a normal part of childhood.  I didn't think this was right but I wasn't gonna speak up against the doctor, they are supposed to know what they are talking about. What did I know? I don't have a medical degree. But I do know my child and I just knew deep down something was not right. 

~Hours before diagnosis~

June 1st. Bella was at a girlfriends house jumping on a trampoline. Suddenly she started screaming in pain. I just figured she fell. I didn't see her do it but maybe I missed it. She wouldn't walk after that. I took the girls home, gave them naps and decided I would assess her when she woke up. She still wasn't walking so I decided to take her to the doctor. Our pediatrician was already closed so I decided to take her to Phoenix children's urgent care. Luckily Leo was on his way home and was able to meet me there. There was no wait and we got right in. The doc said he wanted to do an X-ray but thought it was probably a toddler fracture. They are common in young children who jump on trampolines or bounce houses. If it was a toddler fracture she wouldn't be able to walk for about 6 weeks. Great I thought,just what I needed, 2 babies who can't walk. Gabbi was only 9 months at the time and hadn't started walking yet. Nothing showed up on the X-ray but apparently that is very common as well. You usually can't see the fracture till the scar tissue has started to form. If she started walking on it on her own then it probably was just a sprain and to let her do what she wanted as children are very good as telling you when it hurts and won't do something if it causes them pain. Well sometime the next day she started walking on it again with a slight limp. Roughly 3 days later the limp dispersed. Come a week later when the same thing happened, she was jumping, she hurt her other leg and  started crying. At this point I just figured she was gonna be a kid who wasn't able to jump on trampolines. It only took a few hours this time to start walking again with a limp. The limp never went away. After a week of limping and some coercing by my husband I decided to take her back to the doctor. I knew the routine, take an X-ray, nothing shows, do nothing. But I went anyways to ease is mind. 

~Target shopping~

Friday June 22nd. I got a last minute appointment and had the babysitter meet us there. That day we were at our regular pediatrician. He wanted to get an X-ray and then I brought up the fevers again. I told him I wanted an order for blood work to rule anything else out because I felt it was strange that she kept getting them. He said that would be fine, but to wait and see what the X-ray showed. The funny thing is the doctor then proceeded to ask me if there was any type of abuse going on at home, since this is the second visit with leg injuries. Um nope sorry guess again. The X-ray was clean. I'm glad I didn't take her to have her blood drawn that Friday. We got one last weekend of a cancer free world or in our minds at least. Little did we know it was slowly taking over Bella's body. I remember that weekend. We went to Target, played out back in the girls play pool, we talked about how pale she was looking, I even joked with Leo about her having cancer. We were just a family, doing normal things.

~Waiting for her blood draw~

Monday, June 23. I really really really did not want to take her to get her blood drawn. What sane mother would want to take their 2 1/2 year old to do that. With a gut feeling and some persistence from a friend I did it. It wasn't as awful as I thought it would be and we made it out unscathed. I waited for a call to come in around 7 like it normally does that says all looks good. No call came, but I didn't think anything of it until my phone rang at 3am that would forever change our lives as we knew them.

~So brave~

Be aware. Know the signs. Be an advocate for your child. If you think something isn't right, say something. Even if you are wrong, you are better safe than sorry. Knowing these things can save a life. Possibly even your child's. Don't let your child be misdiagnosed.

~1st Bone Marrow Biopsy~

On a side note. To look back at these pictures to find the ones right before diagnosis is probably one of the hardest things to do. Looking back and seeing a healthy looking, happy child, who in just a few days life was changed so drastically is awful. It literally hurts my heart to look at them. She has changed so much in just a short 6 months. Cancer has made her experience things no child should ever have to. It has aged her so much. When I look at her now she looks so grown up. So much more than she did before diagnosis.


"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything flows from it." ~Proverbs 4:23