Stella is a sweet little girl who loves to do arts and crafts, play with her baby dolls and spend time with her little sister. But during the latter part of 2016, she began feeling ill and tired.
“Stella kept telling us that she was cold, tired and that her legs were hurting,” said her mom, Crystal.
Concerned, Crystal took Stella to their local pediatrician, who couldn't pinpoint what was wrong.
But as the weeks went by, Stella’s symptoms continued to worsen.
“Around Thanksgiving, we had a lot of people at our house and Stella wasn’t running around like the rest of the kids,” said Crystal. “I suspected something could be wrong internally.” When a second trip to the doctor showed abnormal blood cell counts, a bone marrow biopsy soon revealed Stella suffered from acute myeloid leukemia, a type of blood cancer.
That’s when the family turned to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for Stella’s treatment and care.
Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to more than 80% since it opened more than 50 years ago. St. Jude is working to drive the overall survival rate for childhood cancer to 90%, and we won’t stop until no child dies from cancer.
At St. Jude, Stella’s treatment plan includes chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant.
St. Jude has given us hope. Stella has gotten phenomenal treatment here. We’re at the best place possible.
Stella has responded well to treatment, and the family will soon return home to Maryland. Her parents won’t be surprised if she grows up to be a doctor.
“Stella’s a girl who knows what she wants,” Crystal said. “Even before she was sick, she’s wanted to be a doctor.”
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