Jesica’s Hope Chest, Inc.
PO Box 774
Louisburg, NC 27549

Dear JHC:
  Thank you so much for accepting Emily as one of your family of children that JHC supports. Words cannot express my gratitude towards all of you involved in such a wonderful organization.
  Emily was officially diagnosed with Alveolar Rhabdomyoscarcoma on May 20th of 2004. She presented with a large tumor on her left shoulder around the end of March which we were told by several doctors appeared to be a “fatty tissue cyst.” It became infected and grew double in size right before her first birthday at the end of April. She turned 1 on May 8th. The tumor was removed by a very competent surgeon here in the Valley. I will never forget his words “It’s not a fatty tissue cyst but just in case it is something bad I removed the muscle surrounding the mass.” Thank god he was experienced and knew what he was doing because it turned out to be our worst nightmare “cancer.”
  Emily is currently being treated by the doctors at Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH) in McAllen and Houston. We live about 5 ½ hours away from Houston and travel there for all her inpatient hospitalizations, scans, and radiation. All outpatient clinic visits are being done here in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. The clinic here is an annex of the system in Houston. Since treatment has started, Emily has had 4 blood transfusions, 4 hospitalizations for low blood counts, IV antibiotics and a delay in treatment for low counts.
  Emily is a very happy child. She was 9 pounds 1 ounce at birth and had a full head of curly highlighted hair! She grew normally and is an amazing eater. I did everything by the book with her because she is my last child. I nursed her for almost 13 months, I introduced solids at 4 months, I spent every free moment I had singing to her and talking to her. She loves to watch baby Einstein videos and is obsessed with Elmo! She has a very large vocabulary and absolutely adores her older brothers. She started to walk about 2 months ago and continues to get stronger despite the chemo drugs affects on her mobility! Emily is a wonderful eater even with the chemo treatments. She loves cheese, milk, noodles, popsicles, lolly pops, broccoli, beans, cereal, eggs waffles, eggs, sausage and cheetos. There is really nothing she won’t try! She loves to read her baby books, play with her little people doll house, her brand new pretend kitchen where she makes us food all the time and she loves animals. She already knows the sound of a puppy, cow, kitty, monkey and a lion. Currently, Emily is learning how to sign. My good friend is a deaf education teacher and is working with her on basic signing. She is a sponge to new things. In general, Emily is an extremely happy baby and lights up the room with her big blue eyes and her smile from ear to ear. While, she is only just about to turn 16 months old she acts, plays and presents herself to be a 2 year old. Her imagination is incredible and she understands absolutely everything you tell her. She is an amazing little girl and a blessing to our family. We can’t imagine a life without her.
  Again, thank you so much for helping Emily win her fight with cancer!
Regards,
Michelle, Emily's Mom

Taking up space

Click here to follow this link to the National Cancer Institute's information on "rhabdomyosarcoma".