Mikki H. - Quilt Finished in 2006

Born: April 22, 2003

Illness: ALL Leukemia

Mikki H.'s Story

written by mom Carrie

Mackenzie was born April 22, 2003 at Augusta Medical Center in Fishersvill, Va.  She was 7 pounds 7 ounces and 19 inches long. She had lots of hair, especially on top.  She has always been a healthy child. Mackenzie has two older sisters, Meghan and Hayley, and a baby brother. She diagnosed with ALL leukemia on November 30, 2005 at University of Virginia Medical Center. She started with leg pain at worsened over a 2 week period I knew something was truly wrong when she couldn't bend over. Her pain had only been at night so assumed she just wanted to get my bed. She also had bruising and fever with no cold symptoms.  We saw by Pediatrician then sent to UVA.  She came home December 10, 2005.  We finished induction chemotherapy on December 29, 2005.  On Jan. 2, 2006 we had to go to UVA for fever 101.6.  We sent home on the fourth of January and then we returned on January 7, 2006.

Mackenzie went into remission on day 15 so I feel very blessed in that aspect.  She will be part of a study for standard risk children who's Leukemia is like hers. They will give four extra doses of a very powerful chemo drug which I was very reluctant to do. We now having problems with her counts coming up from the induction chemo. Looking back on all this I feel that Mackenzie to me did not show real symptoms of this until maybe September or October. She is also pigeon toed so the falling down never even occurred to me nor the excessive bruising. I think once she started to have the leg pain in the morning and not just at night (it then started to grow very rapid) spreading to the other leg and the lower part of her back. We had went to AMC on November 26, 2005 to the ER and I think the doctor who saw us thought Mackenzie was just messing around or had some type of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.  At the hospital I showed this doctor the exact symptoms that showed by pediatrician... leg pain, bruising, unexplained fever (which she had at the ER), unexplained red dots.  All she did was take x-rays and send us home and she even said that she should draw blood cultures but didn't because it may not be the same as what my pediatrician may have wanted.  The only symptom that my pediatrician had pointed out that I had not notice was the anemia look.  I believe Dr. Miller knew before she even sent me to the lab at the hospital.  She is my hero and angel to my daughter.  Mackenzie (by the way also known as Mikki) her first bone marrow had a 95.0 percentage of blast in body. She did do well as far as the cancer responding to the chemotherapy but it has completely wiped her out. She has also had two red blood cell transfusion already. She has a good chance but her reason for study is that the way her chromosomes are coming back together the 12 and 21, it does not put her at high risk now for relapse but instead 2-5 years from now, so the study is to see if with four extra doses of aspiraginius will lower the risk of relapse in her case and other kids cases like hers for that 2-5 year period.