On a Wednesday in the autumn of 2017, María Isabella’s mom noticed her daughter was pale, especially around her lips. Who could imagine such a small detail would signal complete upheaval for this family of five?
Just a few days later, following tests, María Isabella’s doctor’s office referred her to a hematologist-oncologist, who confirmed she had leukemia.
When the oncologist confirmed it was cancer, I had a difficult time accepting it. In all honesty, I still have a hard time accepting the fact. I couldn’t understand anything at that moment. You really don’t know what issues deserve your full attention until you face a situation like this.
Meet more patients
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Meet Pablo Jose
Pablo Jose was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in 2021 at the age of 5 in his homeland of Guatemala. ALL is the most common type of childhood cancer.
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Meet Alejandro
Ines and Alejandro think of their son Alejandro every day. Their active and curious boy would have been near adulthood by now. They honor his memory through their commitment to St. Jude. Read more here.
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Meet Hayden
Hayden is back in Jamaica after eye cancer treatment, but he often asks his parents when they will go “home” to St. Jude where he received medical care.
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Meet Valentina
When she was 3 years old, Valentina was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Doctors immediately referred Valentina to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® and her parents instantly felt their daughter was going to get the best treatment.
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Meet Camila
Camila was diagnosed three days before her 3rd birthday with a solid cancerous tumor of the kidney. Read her story.
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Meet Delta
Delta is a daddy's girl, and everybody knows it. But Delta and her daddy, Hayden, have often been separated while she has been receiving treatment at St. Jude for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, hours away from their home and his job.
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Meet McClain
McClain was found to have cancer even before she was born, when an ultrasound at 36 weeks showed a mass on her adrenal gland. The diagnosis was neuroblastoma.
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Meet Hunter
Hunter was diagnosed with osteosarcoma and was immediately referred to St. Jude, where he has received chemotherapy and proton therapy. Hunter has chosen to face adversity with good humor and determination.
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Meet Avery
Avery was diagnosed with sickle cell disease soon after birth and she received a bone marrow transplant at St. Jude in early 2023. Her donor was one of her older sisters.
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Meet Misheel
Misheel was diagnosed with brain cancer and was referred to St. Jude, where she has received treatment, which included chemotherapy and radiation therapy. She has refused to let her illness keep her from spreading joy to others.
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Meet Beckett
Even at 2 years old, Beckett was a very verbal child, able to describe how he felt. And how he felt was dizzy. He was also sick to his stomach from time to time, and had developed a head tilt. Beckett was ultimately diagnosed with ATRT, an aggressive form of brain cancer. From that moment on, said his dad, it was “game face.”
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Meet Mila
Mila was found to have both Down Syndrome and a leukemia precursor. She underwent months of chemotherapy at St. Jude for acute myeloid leukemia, but even on days she didn’t feel great, she was smiling and playing.
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Meet Liliana
Liliana is a patient at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital where she was treated for liver cancer at 8 years old.
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Meet Janelle
When Janelle was just over a year old, her family noticed that she began to regress in her development. Medical tests revealed that Janelle had cancer.
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Meet Yazleemar
Yazleemar is an outgoing and expressive teenager. In 2012, Yazleemar was diagnosed with retinoblastoma, a rare cancer. St. Jude offered more than treatment to her and her family.
Her doctors recommended St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for her care.
“They told us it was the best choice for María Isabella’s quality of life,” said Ela.
So, the family followed the referral and traveled from Honduras to St. Jude.
“Having a child with cancer means losing control. I can prevent my child from getting a cold, but I cannot prevent her from having cancer. When we found out we were coming to St. Jude, a light came back on in my life. It gave me back the confidence that I had lost. From the moment that we walked through the doors of St. Jude for the first time, I knew we were at the right place.”
Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to more than 80% since it opened in 1962.
And in the same amount of time, St. Jude has been instrumental in increasing survival rates for María Isabella’s form of cancer, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, from 4% to 94%.
María Isabella is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatment that will last for nearly 3 years in total. She’s only 3 years old right now, with more than a year of cancer treatment still to get through.
But get through it she does.
“She has a strong personality and can be pretty bossy at times,” said Ela. She’s also sweet and playful, and loves singing and dancing and “reading” books to her stuffed animals and her dolls before putting them to bed each night.
My dream for my daughter is that she will grow up and give back for everything she’s receiving now.
Help our families focus on their sick child, not medical bills.
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