A Heartwarming Story of A Child Beating Leukemia
- Emily Meija is an 18-year-old barista at Starbucks. Just last month, her mother came through the drive-thru to share the emotional news that the girl’s 13-year-old sister, Megan, was officially declared cancer-free. Megan was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in August 2021.
- Acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or ALL, is a type of leukemia where the bone marrow makes too many immature lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell. It is an aggressive cancer and requires aggressive treatment.
- Childhood cancer research is lacking, but one of our experts says targeted treatments and different immunotherapies that have been studied in adults and have now moved into clinical trials for children. This means that doctors may have more treatment options for childhood cancer patients in the future.
Emily, 18, is a barista at a Southern California Starbucks. One day last month, she was working the drive-thru when her mother decided to pay a visit after just receiving some exciting news. In a heartwarming moment captured on video, the mother shared that the girl’s sister was officially cancer-free.
Read More@emilylorraineee Finding out my 13 year old sister is cancer free at work @Starbucks #childhoodcancer #cancer #leukemia ♬ original sound – Emily Mejia
“You’re gonna make me cry, are you serious?” she said in the video.
It was an emotional announcement for Emily because her sister Megan has been battling acute lymphoblastic leukemia since August 2021. She underwent CAR T-cell therapy for treatment, and just got the call last month that she was cancer-free.
Doctors are planning to give her a bone marrow transplant to stop any new growth, and, luckily, Emily and two of her other siblings are all perfect matches to be her bone marrow donor
“Megan is getting a second chance at a healthy life because of her sibling,” Christine said. “This is worth celebrating.”
What Is Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia?
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or ALL, is a type of leukemia where the bone marrow makes too many immature lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell. It is also called acute lymphocytic leukemia.
The American Cancer Society estimates that about 6,660 new cases of ALL will be diagnosed in the United States in 2022. The ACS also reports that the risk for developing ALL is highest in children younger than 5 years of age, with a slow decline in risk until the mid-20s. Then, the risk slowly rises again after age 50.
What Is Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL)?
Dr. Olalekan Oluwole, a hematologist with Vanderbilt University Medical Center, previously talked with SurvivorNet about ALL's effect on the body and the type of treatments that work to fight it.
"ALL is a type of cancer that is very aggressive," Dr. Oluwole told SurvivorNet. "It grows very fast. Within a few weeks, a few months, the person will start to feel very sick. And that's why we will have to give it an equally aggressive type of treatment to break that cycle."
All About Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: Answers to the Most Common Questions About the Disease
Dr. Oluwole also says the leukemia often resides in the bone marrow, and because it is an abnormal growth, it just keeps dividing.
"It doesn't follow rules, and it doesn't stop," he told SurvivorNet. "Not only that, because this is part of the immune system, the immune system is sorta like the police of the body. So those abnormal cells that have now become cancer, they have the ability to go to many places. They go into the blood, and they often go into the tissue or the lining around the brain."
Understanding Childhood Cancer
Treatment advances in recent decades have lead to 84 percent of children with cancer now surviving five years or more, according to the American Cancer Society. This is up from 58 percent from the mid-1970s.
But according to the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation, more than 95 percent of childhood cancer survivors have significant health-related issues because of the current treatment options, and only 4 percent of the billions of dollars spent each year on cancer research and treatments are directed towards treating childhood cancer in the United States. Since 1980, fewer than 10 drugs have been developed for use in children with cancer while hundreds of drugs have been created exclusively for adults.
Dr. Elizabeth Raetz, director of pediatric hematology and oncology at NYU Langone's Perlmutter Cancer Center, reminded us in a previous interview that there is still reason for hope.
"There are also targeted treatments and different immunotherapies that have been studied in adults and have now moved into clinical trials for children and there has been a great deal of excitement in the community about that," Dr. Elizabeth Raetz told SurvivorNet.
Still, navigating a child's cancer diagnosis can be tricky.
Jayne Wexler's son battled acute lymphoblastic leukemia and now deals with heart disease as a side effect of chemotherapy. In a previous interview with SurvivorNet, Wexler explained that in addition to regular parent worries having a child with cancer means living with a whole new world of anxieties.
The Impact of a Childhood Cancer Diagnosis on the Whole Family Jayne Wexler Shares Her Story
"My husband and I will always have fear," she said. "I don't think we can ever let go of that. Just when he was OK, then he relapsed, and then he had the bone marrow transplant … so there's always some sort of worry."
Wexler admits she tries to live for each and every day, but it’s understandable that this does not always come easy.
"And I do try you hear people say this we do have to live each day and be thankful for what we have," Wexler said. "And it's hard to remember that when you're caught up … it's very hard to just sort of enjoy the moment, because we just don't know what's going to happen in the future."
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