Alyssa - Anchorage

At 1 month old, Alyssa’s parents took her to the ER for what they thought was an inguinal hernia. Imaging showed it was a large lymph node, and bloodwork showed possible cancer. Unfortunately, the bone marrow biopsy Alyssa had done in Anchorage pulled up mostly blood instead of marrow, and it was used to rule out cancer. An attempted lumbar puncture was getting blood-tinged CSF fluid, so doctors never sent it to the lab. Because of this, the cancer was missed, and for several months, Alyssa’s parents were in and out of the hospital for neutropenia, mysterious bruising, a very swollen lumpy head, swollen eyes, and a stuffy nose that lasted for 5 weeks. A team of specialists conducted various tests, bloodwork, and imaging to put a name to the mystery illness but couldn’t find a diagnosis. Finally, after spiking a fever while neutropenic, she was admitted. Within hours, Alyssa’s parents were told it was likely AML, and she was medevac’d to Seattle Children’s hospital that day. When she arrived, she was not opening her eyes, not eating, and barely moving her limbs. After being sedated three days in a row (biopsy, line placement, MRI), she ended up in the PICU on a ventilator. Despite her fragile state, she started chemotherapy. She experienced several side effects from chemo including rashes, fevers, high blood pressure, constant vomiting, mucositis, micro clots in her liver (VOD), and a fistula with an abscess in her GI tract. Between heavy medications and frequent imaging, it seemed like complications were unending. After her first round of chemo, her FLOW test came back showing 30% leukemia remaining in the marrow - and Alyssa was put on track for a bone marrow transplant. However, days later, the FISH test came back showing 0.0% cancer cells detected, something her doctor had never seen before. After a repeat biopsy, both the FISH and FLOW tests showed no detectable cancer! When Alyssa was diagnosed, the Lord promised in a dream that Alyssa would be healed. Her family believes this was that promise! Alyssa still has several rounds of chemotherapy ahead, but her family proceeds with gratefulness in their hearts for the wonderful care team at Seattle Children’s, and joy for the good Lord’s work in Alyssa’s life.