What do you say to a 5-year-old baby when she has ALL? You preserve it easy. For Julie Phillips, this meant telling her daughter, Blakeleigh, that she was sick and could be within the hospital for some time.
As a mom, although, nothing felt easy. She’d introduced her daughter in for prime fevers. To discover out Blakeleigh had most cancers was “heartbreaking.”
Fast ahead to right this moment, and Julie’s bursts with gratitude for her daughter’s well being. The workforce at UVA Health Children’s made certain that Blakeleigh felt comfy and unafraid whereas going by remedy. Everyone concerned feels optimistic and hopeful that Blakeleigh will get higher and higher. Watch her story for extra.
Julie Phillips: Blakeleigh may be very sensible. 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 he or she was admitted as a result of she was having recurrent fevers, and we could not work out why.
Julie Phillips: So, they’d completed each check below the solar. Me and pop each stayed each evening. We by no means left her.
Emily Moses, MD: Our common pediatrics workforce 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.
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Emily Moses, MD: So, sufferers who’ve ALL, the leukemia cells, the place it is made within the bone marrow, crowds out the traditional cells which might be made there. So when the bone marrow cannot make these purple blood cells and platelets, then you may have signs of low purple blood cells, so anemia.
Julie Phillips: She was 5, so she actually did not perceive. All, you recognize, let’s imagine was, you recognize,” you are sick and we’ve got to be on the hospital for some time, and you are going to should take medication for some time.” I imply, they make her really feel like she’s protected right here. She, you recognize, she’s not scared to come back right here to do her remedies. They… they make it simpler.
Whitney Perdue, RN: It’s 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 very 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 undeniable fact 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 superb factor.
Julie Phillips: Hopefully, we solely have 3 extra months left of remedy. We’re praying we get there and…. that’ll be it. Looking at her, you wouldn’t know something was unsuitable together with her. She’s identical to a standard baby.