Danielle C. - Quilt Finished in 2008

Born: May 31, 1995

Illness: Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma

This quilt was made with squares made by a group participating in a service learning project from Wallace State Community College in Hanceville, AL.  Thank you LaDonna for heading up this quilt!

Danielle C.'s Story

Written by Danielle's mom in October 2007

In November 2006 Danielle’s world turned upside down.  On November 2nd, Danielle’s parents, Judy and Rickey, rushed her from home to the hospital because she said she couldn’t breathe.  The doctor’s began working on Danielle immediately.  At first, they suspected she had pneumonia but after tests came back, doctors shattered the Chestnut family with the news that Danielle had cancer – Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, a cancer that attacks a person’s immune system.  Danielle was taken to the Children’s Hospital I Birmingham, AL where doctors confirmed that a tumor was sitting in the top part of one of her lungs and was causing her to be short of breath.  The cancer was also in the bone marrow in her hips.  Danielle was hospitalized from November 2nd – 17th while doctors ran tests and gave her medicine.  They determined that the tumor in her lung was two and one-half inches long.  She immediately underwent chemotherapy to try to shrink the tumor.  After three weeks of chemo, Danielle’s tumor shrunk to one inch in length.  However, it is still currently this size and has not continued to shrink.  Doctor’s constantly have to change the dose of her medicines to try and shrink her tumor even more.  One the tumor is gone she will still have to undergo chemotherapy to eradicate the cancer in the bone marrow.  She will have to keep seeing her doctor for checkups and tests until she is in college.