Duchess Kate Makes Young Leukemia Fighter's Day
- Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, visited with a 5-year-old girl from Scotland, Mila, fighting leukemia after seeing a picture of her and including it in the Duchess’s Hold Still photography project.
- Mila was first diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in November 2019 and has undergone chemotherapy since her diagnosis.
- Finding moments of joy through cancer can make the journey easier, and improve one’s prognosis, in some instances.
Lynda tells Hello! magazine this week, “I can’t put into words how remarkable the Duchess of Cambridge has been.”
She continues, “She was so caring and considerate. I got a real sense of her being a mother in the way she spoke to Mila. There were challenges, because of all the Covid restrictions and wearing masks, but she said she wanted to give Mila a big hug.”
The enormity of the day was not lost on Lynda, either. She says, “I think any kid that can get the chance to go to a proper palace and experience what Mila experienced that day is significant.”
In fact, Mila was even given silver service for a bowl of Rice Krispies when she mentioned she was hungry during her visit.
“They sent in a butler with a silver platter, silver bowl and silver jug. I told her, ‘You’re going to come down to earth with a huge bump when we get home and you ask for your Rice Krispies tomorrow’,” Lynda said.
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Understanding Leukemia
5-year-old Mila was first diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in November 2019 and has undergone chemotherapy since her diagnosis.
Leukemia is a blood cancer that develops when the body produces large quantities of abnormal white blood cells. These cells prevent the bone marrow from producing any other type of cell including red blood cells and platelets.
Dr. Nina Shah, a hematologist at the University of California San Francisco, explains leukemia in an earlier interview, saying, "One cell got really selfish and decided that it needed to take up all the resources of everybody else, and, in doing so, took up space and energy from the rest of the body.”
"In general having a blood cancer means that your bone marrow is not functioning correctly," Dr. Shah continues. "And when your bone marrow doesn't function correctly, it means that you can have something happen to you like anemia. Or you can have low platelets, which makes it possible for you to bleed easily. Or your immune system is not functioning correctly."
Finding Positivity Through Cancer
Actively searching for joyful, positive moments like meeting with a Duchess! can vastly improve the cancer journey.
Just ask Bulgarian comedian Bianca Ilich, who battled breast cancer, and managed to see the joy through the challenges of breast cancer.
In an earlier interview with SurvivorNet, Illich says, “In general, I’m trying to be very positive, and I don’t believe that the cancer, in my case, will come back.” A hopeful, positive attitude like hers has been shown, in some cases, to improve some cancer prognoses.
“I’m still the same smiling, positive person in general,” Illich says with a warm smile.
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