Pipers Leukemia Journey

If you’re shocked by Piper’s diagnosis, join the club. This came out of the blue for our seemingly healthy girl. 

About two weeks ago we noticed Piper was bruising really easily. But she’s three and it seemed normal. She was otherwise healthy and happy so we just kept going. She didn’t feel well Saturday 12/4, complaining of a sore throat so we took her to get checked for strep. It was negative so she went to bed early and woke up happy to see Santa and her friends the next day. The week following was normal and then Sunday 12/12, she woke up cranky and spiked a fever. With some Motrin, it was under control and she was back to her spunky self. 

We kept her home from school 12/13 to make sure the fever was in check and since she was home, decided to call the doc about her bruises. They asked to see her so we had an 11:30 appointment with her pediatrician. 


After taking a look and hearing of her fever and increase in bloody noses, the doc suspected mono and took some blood. She said she’d call in a few hours with the results. We left and Piper got a Strawberry  Frappuccino for being a champ. 



At 5:15, we got the call that rocked our world. It wasn’t mono, it was almost certainly cancer. 

Her white blood cell count was over 100k and normal range is 4.5-11k. They told us to pack a bag for at least 4-5 days and get to the ER at Childrens Hospital as soon as possible. A doctor would be waiting for us. 

We were admitted, more blood drawn, and met the oncologist. They were as certain as they could be without being 100% that it was leukemia. More blood work would tell us what kind. We were assured this is treatable and curable but somehow that didn’t take away the sting of our baby girl having cancer. The long treatment journey she’d have to endure. The meds, chemo, and surgeries, not to mention nausea, hospital stays and hair loss is heart breaking.