Make A Child Smile

Hillary's Story
written by mom Cindy

Hillary was born on Christmas Day. She has always loved sharing Jesus' birthday! Plus, everyone remembers her birthday. And, no, her birthday does not get lost in the Christmas rush- we make sure of that! We always celebrate her birthday separately.

At the age of 10, we began to notice Hillary being fatigued; however, she was playing soccer and was very active. She also had low grade fevers on and off for a couple of weeks. Her visit to the pediatrician sent us straight to the emergency room. There, we were absolutely shocked and in disbelief to learn that Hillary had leukemia. She had been going to school, playing soccer, involved in church, and more. We had no clue she was so sick.

On November 7th, 2001, Hillary was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. That day had started off as a "normal" day of school and work but ended by being the beginning of almost 2½ years of chemotherapy. Hillary missed almost all of her 5th grade year and I (her mother) resigned my teaching job in order to take care of her.

On the day of Hillary's diagnosis, she was admitted to the hospital, had surgery the next day for placement of a port-a-cath for her to get her IV treatments, and aggressive chemotherapy began on the 3rd day. Over the first year of treatment, she was hospitalized 8 times and had 8 blood transfusions. (Thank you so much to all of you who give blood. My daughter is alive because people we don't even know took the time and effort to give. You'll just never know whose life you can save when you donate blood.)

The intense treatments Hillary had over the first 9 months made her very sick and weak, but she played hard whenever she felt good. We spent her "good" days playing a lot of board games and putting together 500+ piece puzzles. Usually there was only maybe an hour or so in which she had enough energy to do so. Although those days of intense treatment were rough, our family created an incredibly tighter bond than we had before and a bond that I think can only happen when families endure such hardships as we have. Hillary lost all of her hair twice, but she held her bald head high. She was not ashamed of not having hair and often went without a hat. It is amazing at the style and grace in which she endured throughout her treatment.

After 2 years and 4 months of chemotherapy, Hillary FINISHED her treatment in February 2004! We had a BIG off-chemo party for Hillary. We had a giant Moonwalk, hay rides, face-painting, air-brush (temporary) tatoos, food and more for family and friends! We are thrilled for Hillary to be off chemo! Her oncologist continues to see her monthly, and we just pray every month that we will hear the words, "She looks great! Blood counts are good." It is scary- we have seen the ugly side of cancer and hope and pray that Hillary NEVER EVER faces it again! Our faith is strong and does not waver. We are thankful for each day and continue to pray for good health.

We trust in God and believe she is healed of her cancer. Thank you God! Hillary's bones are re-building and her muscle/joint aches and pain are less now than in the past due to osteopenia from the chemotherapy. She will have to have her heart checked every year or two from now on because damage to the heart can show up later.

Most children with life-threatening illnesses are granted a wish. At the time of Hillary's diagnosis, she was a BIG Crocodile Hunter (Steve Irwin) fan and her wish was to go to The Australia Zoo and to meet him. Children's Wish Foundation granted Hillary's wish to go to Australia and our family had such a wonderful, incredible trip there in October of 2002. Although Hillary did not get to meet Steve Irwin, everyone at The Australia Zoo gave Hillary the royal treatment. She got to hold a koala, pet and feed a camel and kangaroos, pet Harriet the giant (330 pounds and 172 years old) Galapagos tortoise, walk a goat, name a lamb (Andrew), kiss a dingo, and the part she loved the most was holding a Burmese python snake. It was huge! The trip was definitely the trip of a lifetime. Our family is so thankful to all the people who make it possible for wishes to come true for children who suffer so much.

Thank you so much to those of you reading this and pray that our daughter is healed forever!

"Trust in the Lord with all year heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge, and He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6

Hillary's favorite scripture: "But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever! Amen." 2 Peter 3:18.