Harmony is artistic, detail-oriented and confident. “She’s very smart, and thinks she's right about everything,” said her mom, Ashley.
She is a great debater. I love to debate, but she even stumps me sometimes.
Families, like Harmony's, will never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food.
Harmony honed her debate skills at school where she would walk back and forth to classes. It was on these walks where the first ominous signs that something was wrong first appeared: Harmony was having to sit down for multiple breaks and was short of breath, nauseated — “just in pain and uncomfortable altogether,” said her mom.
Absolutely no one expected the cause would be from a stage four Wilms tumor.
-
The official diagnosis came at St. Jude, but so did immediate support.
It was life-changing in an instant, nothing you can prepare for, but the staff is so great. It's a terrible circumstance to have to deal with, but it could be worse. The staff is here for us.
And, families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food. “That was very good news and also surprising,” said Ashley. “This is a really nice hospital. When you see these brand-new gigantic scan machines, and how nice the floors are for the kids, and the toy rooms, I'm like, ‘There's no way this can be free.’ But it is. It's actually quite unbelievable.”
Harmony underwent surgery to remove the tumor, her left kidney and the affected lymph node. Her treatment plan also includes radiation therapy and chemotherapy. “To see her be as resilient as she is, I mean, it's amazing. I'm just proud every single day, every single day,” said Ashley.
Meet more patients
-
Meet Abraham
After a CT scan revealed Abraham had a mass on his brain, identified as a cancerous brain tumor called a medulloblastoma, his family turned to St. Jude for help.
-
Meet Ashtyn
When Ashtyn’s family learned she had a type of cancerous brain tumor called a medulloblastoma, they turned to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
-
Meet Mia
Mia is a friendly, caring child who was referred to St. Jude from her home country of Nicaragua when she was 5 years old. She was diagnosed with anaplastic ependymoma, a malignant tumor in her brain.