Our Kids

Devyn was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia July 28th, 2023 at the age of 7 months.  The road to curing Devyn included 5 rounds of chemotherapy to be administered over 6 months, with each round being administered back to back with the final 2 rounds being called "intensification".  She was given a few days between rounds to become healthy enough to be poisoned again and again...  In addition to the chemotherapy medications, Devyn was given many other medications to keep her comfortable, many of which would never be used on a healthy child her age.  The constant pokes, tests and especially the weekly replacement of her port were very difficult for Devyn, her parents and the care team.  Holding your child down, so her life can be saved, is something a parent can never get over.  Devyn was discharged on January 28th, 2024 and has been in remission since February 8th, 2024.  If you were to meet Devyn today, you wouldn't know that she's a cancer survivor.  One day, Devyn will be able to speak for herself, until then, her mom, dad, family and friends will advocate on her behalf.  

 Laiken Rose was diagnosed with Spindle Cell Sarcoma – a large solid tumor in her chest, on May 20th, 2021, at the age of 9.  She went through four rounds of chemotherapy and 25 straight days of radiation to shrink the tumor before surgery.  It was successfully removed on September 20th, 2021, after a grueling five-hour surgery.  The recovery was very difficult, and she continued to have two more rounds of chemotherapy after the tumor was out.  It is an unimaginable horror as a parent to knowingly put poison in your child and sit there watching it drip into her veins.  She was a different kid after the treatments, mentally and physically.  Thankfully,  she was declared cancer free on December 20th, 2021.  Laiken went back to 4th grade that January but never returned to her old self and suffered from a lingering cough, low energy and lack of appetite.  In May of 2022, she was seen many times by doctors and it was determined that she had some sort of viral infection and was even put on an inhaler to help her breathing.  Her health continued to decline and on June 16th, she was seen at the U of I and diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML).  She was very sick and was having trouble breathing so she was intubated.  Her body started to shut down and at 1:17pm on June 18th, 2022, she passed away with her family by her side.  It was so fast and so shocking to know that six months prior, she was cancer free and then she was gone. The poison and treatments to cure one cancer, likely caused the other.  We advocate because she no longer has a voice.  We advocate because no parent should have to watch their child go through what Laiken did and no family should have to see their child in a casket due to this awful disease – not when funding can be provided for cancer research and prevention. 

 My name is Sophie, and I was diagnosed when I was 16 years old. On January 5th, 2024 I found lots of unexplainable bruises all over my body. So, then I went to the doctor, and they did some blood tests. They saw that I only had 14 platelets and an obscure amount of white blood cells. Then they came to the prognosis that I had some form of Leukemia. Then I was sent to the University of Iowa Stead Children's Hospital and was admitted. I had to spend about a month inpatient due to a fever which set me back from going home on my expected discharge day. On January 6th, my port was placed with a bone marrow biopsy. When they got the results back from the bone marrow they found thousands of blasts of Cancer cells. 89% of my blood was filled with cancer. On January 7th I started my first round of Chemotherapy. Then at the end of January I was discharged after a huge jump in my ANC level, so I was safe to go home. I have been going for treatment in Iowa City weekly, sometimes every day of the week and sometimes once a month. On January 28th I lost my hair completely, then it began to grow back in the summer. At the end of August, I had lost it again. My hair is now here to stay. I sometimes take up to 21 pills before bed every night and even during some phases had learned to give myself injections of chemo. I am now in Maintenance and have 15 more months of treatment.