Childhood Cancer Warrior: Mia
As told by her mother
Mia was your normal 7-year-old. She loved to be outside, loved to swim, draw, paint, and enjoy family time. The day after Christmas Mia was riding on her mini bike all day. We noticed some odd bruising on her legs and thought it had to be from the bike pegs.
2 weeks prior she had 2 large nose bleeds that concerned us, so she was scheduled to see her pediatrician in a few days. We never made it to that appointment.
A few days later Mia told us she felt weird and she had a bruise on her back with a small lump and tiny red dots on her chest. That same day she had a bad nosebleed and almost passed out. We rushed her to the Emergency Room.
Everything happened so quickly. Scans, tests, and blood draws quickly confirmed she had Leukemia. It was T-Cell Leukemia which is not as common, and so she would be classified as very high risk and undergo the toughest treatment, with the highest dose and extra types of chemo. Everything was scary for her and she didn’t understand what was happening. A few days later she went under sedation to place her mediport and receive her 1st dose of chemo. Things didn’t go as planned and she went into respiratory distress which led us to the ICU for a few days.
I’ll never forget the day she asked me if she was going to die. She knew she was sick and I couldn’t answer her. What are you supposed to say to that?
We were in the middle of the COVID pandemic so she couldn’t have any visitors. She couldn’t see her siblings and my husband and I could not be in the room together with her. That was extremely hard. Finally, after a 2-week hospital stay, she got to come home and we were finally together again as a family.
For the next 2 1/2 years she would undergo multiple treatments, horrible side effects, pain, unexpected ER visits, and admissions. She endured numerous covid swabs, blood draws, and medications. She had 2 surgeries, 8 ER visits, 14 blood transfusions, went under anesthesia 30 times for lumbar punctures with chemo, 36 total days in the hospital, 2 bone marrow biopsies, physical therapy, occupational therapy, multiple types of scans, and test, and so much more.
Her brother was 12 and so he missed out on playing sports, and hanging out with friends. Same for her 6-year-old sister. We were isolated from everyone. Our days included multiple alarms for medication reminders, appointments, and safety measures we had to take at home and outside the home.
She missed her classmates, and the nurses and medical staff became her new friends. The invitations for birthday parties stopped coming and we had to be creative at home when it came to celebrations.
It has now been 1 1/2 years since her last chemotherapy. For her end of treatment party, we celebrated like royalty. She had a huge party at a water park. She had a magician and alpacas came to the house. We went to the aquarium to pet every animal she couldn’t touch when she was in treatment. We took a trip to Boston. One of her favorite things was finally rolling down a hill with no worries. She has since played 2 seasons of volleyball and 1 basketball season. Her math and reading scores have increased dramatically. She’s got her buddy Sky by her side to cheer her up and provide endless kisses when she is down. She also has a ton of friends now, including the entire UTSA women’s basketball team.
Cancer took so much from our family. Our goal is to continue to help raise awareness not only for our child but for those who have passed and those who are about to start their journey. I focus on letting Mia be a kid and try to fill those gaps in her childhood with wonderful memories. She plans to attend UTSA and isn’t sure what she will major in; she changes her mind often. She does know, she wants to live on a farm full of animals.
