Childhood Cancer Warrior: Hadlee
Haldee’s Story as told by her mother, Jordan
To know Hadlee is to love her, and it has been that way since the moment she entered the world. She radiates warmth, kindness, and joy. Hadlee’s first year passed in blissful normalcy—growing, thriving, and hitting every milestone just as any one-year old should. But when she turned 14 months old, everything changed. A persistent rash, which we thought was harmless, signaled something far more sinister. What began as a visit to urgent care turned into a life-altering trip to the only children’s hospital in New Mexico, where we lived at the time. There, we heard the words that would forever alter the course of our lives: Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis, or LCH—a rare form of cancer.
In that first week, my husband and I poured over every scrap of information we could find on LCH. One name kept surfacing: Dr. Kenneth McClain. His work at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston stood out as groundbreaking, offering new hope for families facing this rare disease. We didn’t hesitate. We knew we had to get Hadlee to Houston to meet him. What started as a quest for a second opinion quickly became a race against time. Within two weeks of Hadlee’s diagnosis, our family of four packed up our lives and moved to Houston, determined to give Hadlee the best chance at survival.
The speed at which we made these decisions mirrored the pace of Hadlee’s illness. Despite the whirlwind of diagnosis, relocation, and starting treatment, her disease was advancing faster than any of us could have imagined. In early August 2022, Hadlee received her first round of chemotherapy. But just two days in, her doctor delivered more grim news: the treatment wasn’t working. Most cases of LCH progress slowly. Not Hadlee’s. Her decline was rapid, and the chemotherapy wasn’t enough to catch up, let alone turn the tide.
That’s when Dr. McClain and his team made an extraordinary exception, granting Hadlee access to a clinical trial drug. This experimental medication became our miracle. We watched Hadlee teeter on the edge of life, only to see her pulled back from the brink. It stabilized her body long enough for more intensive chemotherapy to be a viable option. For our family, that drug is nothing short of miraculous—it gave us back our daughter.
By January 2023, Hadlee began the exhausting journey of infusion chemotherapy—seventeen rounds over the course of sixteen long months. Her childhood milestones—holidays, birthdays, and cherished moments—passed not at home, but within the sterile walls of hospital rooms. Easter was no different, but that’s when we first encountered Sky High for Kids. Hadlee received one of their goodie bags, a small gesture that carried a much bigger impact. It wasn’t just a bag of gifts—it was a lifeline of joy in a time overshadowed by fear and uncertainty.
Sky High for Kids didn’t just provide us with material comfort; they gave us hope when we were running low. They understood that for these young warriors, the happiest times—holidays, birthdays—are too often spent battling through the hardest moments. The effort Sky High’s team and volunteers put into creating gifts and planning events lifts spirits when everything else feels impossibly heavy. In those darkest hours, their kindness brought light, and for that, we will always be grateful.
Over the past two years, we’ve faced countless procedures—blood draws, biopsies, scans, and prolonged hospital admissions. But on June 11, 2024, we heard the words we had been praying for: Hadlee was done with chemotherapy. That moment brought joy to our home, but any family who’s been through this knows the journey doesn’t end there. The fight against cancer doesn’t simply vanish. Now, we enter a new phase: routine checkups, annual scans, and the ongoing effects of chemotherapy will remain a part of our lives for years to come.
Hadlee has endured more in her short three years than most people will in a lifetime. Yet through it all, she remains our little beam of sunshine, even on the darkest days. We are eternally grateful to Sky High for Kids and their mission to end childhood cancer. We stand with them, fighting for a world where no child has to endure what Hadlee has faced. Now, with her treatment behind her, we look forward to the ordinary moments that had once seemed so distant—taking her to church, watching her make new friends, playing at the park, and starting school. Hadlee, our precious gift from God, is ready to live the childhood she’s been deprived of. And we can’t wait for the world to meet her.
