Teen Battles Leukemia With A Positive Outlook
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
Bailey, 14, an eighth-grader at Edgewood Middle School, goes once a week to Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis for treatment, and the delayed intense portion of her chemotherapy has left her anxious, according to her mother, Julia.
But Bailey tries to stay as positive as she can about having Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and the treatments she's undergoing for it.
"I miss seeing my friends, but someone is here with me every day," Bailey said in an interview recently. "I don't do what everyone else is doing every day, but I'm doing something. I find something to do."
Julia said they began noticing symptoms after the July 4th weekend in 2010. Bailey complained of a headache. At the time, Julia said, she just thought her daughter was tired because of all the excitement that weekend.
The next week, Bailey did all her normal activities. But then she complained of stomach pains. At MedStat, she was told she didn't have mononucleosis. Dr. David Dick thought Bailey looked anemic. After some blood tests, Dick said Bailey needed to go to Riley.
By the time the Moores went down to Riley, the doctors had already seen Bailey's preliminary results that Dick had sent down, but took some more tests.
The normal white blood cell count for Bailey should have been between 3,000 to 4,000. It was 113,000.
Dr. Jodi Skiles came in and talked with Bailey about her leukemia. Bailey asked Skiles if there was a chance she could be wrong. There wasn't.
"Bailey said, 'alright then, let's get going,'" Julia said.
"You know, it's like a bad dream. You just put yourself on auto pilot, you just have to do it," Julia said.
That morning Bailey got a bloody nose. And just as mysterious as it started, it ended. She still occasionally gets a bloody nose.
From the time she was released from Riley that first time, Julia said, Bailey's been there every Friday.
Bailey was hospitalized from Oct. 17 to Nov. 5, with about 15 to 16 days of that time in the Intensive Care Unit.
"When she was in intensive care, she had about everything under the sun," said Julia. "She started off with a fever to mucositis to pneumonia to fungus to C-DIFF. They still don't know what kind of fungus it was."
When she was in ICU in Indianapolis, Julia said, Bailey was "tubed and sedated for three to four days."
During the three weeks in ICU, Julia said, Bailey lost a lot of muscle strength. She dropped from 96 pounds to 78.
Bailey said she still doesn't remember that time.
Because Bailey was so sick, they had to put off starting her delayed intense portion of her chemotherapy. They began that Jan. 14, and lasts approximately 60 days.
Not only does Bailey get treatment at the hospital, but she also has to do treatment at home.
When Bailey's treatment started, Julia said, they started with the induction phase, done once a week. The treatment built up, and Bailey had three different spinal taps.
The next step of the treatment was the consolidation phase. At the end of October, when Bailey started consolidation, that's when she started getting sick so her treatment was delayed. From the time she started consolidation, Bailey had eight spinal taps.
Bailey's medical treatments have been made easier thanks to family, friends and Riley Hospital.
Julia said Riley "has been absolutely incredible. The staff is great. Her nurses are awesome."
Skiles came up and visited Bailey and her family before Christmas.
"I like them," Bailey said of Riley Hospital. "I love my nurses. I would consider Jodi my sister. I feel like I've known her forever.
"Sometimes it freaks me out. Too many people died of cancer this year - family and close friends. It's like, who is next? Who is next?"
Julia said one of the things that Riley does for kids is keep their spirits up, keep them positive.
Julia said she's talked to a lot of different people who started out at other hospitals but transferred to Riley. At Riley, Bailey feels very safe. Riley is very quick to offer the Moores with help, she said.
Julia said she and her three daughters seldom ever had colds or the flu before. "We don't do sick," she said. So when Bailey was diagnosed with Acute Lymphobblastic Leukemia July 21, 2010, "we weren't sure how to handle this."
"But through the support we've got from friends, word of mouth, this is a wonderful place to be. The support has been great," Julia said.[[In-content Ad]]Julia is a loan officer at First Federal. She said they've been very supportive and letting her work around when she has to take Bailey to the clinic.
Bailey also has received a lot of cards from her friends, family and other supporters, which she loves.
Treatment has made her feet, ankles and hands hurt, and it's hard for her to walk sometimes. Her equilibrium can be off. Through her illness in November, getting up to go to the bathroom was the biggest thing she did. Now, as long as she hangs on to things like railing, she's OK.
But Julia said Bailey has been really positive about everything.
One day at Riley, there was a girl who was newly diagnosed. Her family had never seen a doctor before. Bailey shared her experiences with the girl and the family, telling them how it was and how she felt. Bailey told her it doesn't hurt and everything will be OK.
Julia said that through Riley, some of the families have gotten close and started a foundation to raise money for childhood cancer. Of the $4.6 billion out there for cancer research, only 4 percent of it is for childhood cancers, Julia said.
The mission of the foundation, SayLoveFoundation.org, "is to cause the cure of childhood leukemias. We will accomplish this mission by raising and providing funds and grants for the purpose of childhood leukemia research. The Say Love Foundation Inc. will also provide programs, and funds to children, and their families, who are diagnosed with childhood leukemia and to raise awareness of this terrible disease," according to its mission statement.
Each month, Pepsi gives away more than $1 million to a cause voted on by the public at its website at www.refresheverything.com Currently, SayLoveFoundation.org is ninth to win $250,000. People can vote online for Pepsi to give the grant to the foundation, or they can text 73774 with the message 105654. Julia said people can vote every day.
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Bailey, 14, an eighth-grader at Edgewood Middle School, goes once a week to Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis for treatment, and the delayed intense portion of her chemotherapy has left her anxious, according to her mother, Julia.
But Bailey tries to stay as positive as she can about having Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and the treatments she's undergoing for it.
"I miss seeing my friends, but someone is here with me every day," Bailey said in an interview recently. "I don't do what everyone else is doing every day, but I'm doing something. I find something to do."
Julia said they began noticing symptoms after the July 4th weekend in 2010. Bailey complained of a headache. At the time, Julia said, she just thought her daughter was tired because of all the excitement that weekend.
The next week, Bailey did all her normal activities. But then she complained of stomach pains. At MedStat, she was told she didn't have mononucleosis. Dr. David Dick thought Bailey looked anemic. After some blood tests, Dick said Bailey needed to go to Riley.
By the time the Moores went down to Riley, the doctors had already seen Bailey's preliminary results that Dick had sent down, but took some more tests.
The normal white blood cell count for Bailey should have been between 3,000 to 4,000. It was 113,000.
Dr. Jodi Skiles came in and talked with Bailey about her leukemia. Bailey asked Skiles if there was a chance she could be wrong. There wasn't.
"Bailey said, 'alright then, let's get going,'" Julia said.
"You know, it's like a bad dream. You just put yourself on auto pilot, you just have to do it," Julia said.
That morning Bailey got a bloody nose. And just as mysterious as it started, it ended. She still occasionally gets a bloody nose.
From the time she was released from Riley that first time, Julia said, Bailey's been there every Friday.
Bailey was hospitalized from Oct. 17 to Nov. 5, with about 15 to 16 days of that time in the Intensive Care Unit.
"When she was in intensive care, she had about everything under the sun," said Julia. "She started off with a fever to mucositis to pneumonia to fungus to C-DIFF. They still don't know what kind of fungus it was."
When she was in ICU in Indianapolis, Julia said, Bailey was "tubed and sedated for three to four days."
During the three weeks in ICU, Julia said, Bailey lost a lot of muscle strength. She dropped from 96 pounds to 78.
Bailey said she still doesn't remember that time.
Because Bailey was so sick, they had to put off starting her delayed intense portion of her chemotherapy. They began that Jan. 14, and lasts approximately 60 days.
Not only does Bailey get treatment at the hospital, but she also has to do treatment at home.
When Bailey's treatment started, Julia said, they started with the induction phase, done once a week. The treatment built up, and Bailey had three different spinal taps.
The next step of the treatment was the consolidation phase. At the end of October, when Bailey started consolidation, that's when she started getting sick so her treatment was delayed. From the time she started consolidation, Bailey had eight spinal taps.
Bailey's medical treatments have been made easier thanks to family, friends and Riley Hospital.
Julia said Riley "has been absolutely incredible. The staff is great. Her nurses are awesome."
Skiles came up and visited Bailey and her family before Christmas.
"I like them," Bailey said of Riley Hospital. "I love my nurses. I would consider Jodi my sister. I feel like I've known her forever.
"Sometimes it freaks me out. Too many people died of cancer this year - family and close friends. It's like, who is next? Who is next?"
Julia said one of the things that Riley does for kids is keep their spirits up, keep them positive.
Julia said she's talked to a lot of different people who started out at other hospitals but transferred to Riley. At Riley, Bailey feels very safe. Riley is very quick to offer the Moores with help, she said.
Julia said she and her three daughters seldom ever had colds or the flu before. "We don't do sick," she said. So when Bailey was diagnosed with Acute Lymphobblastic Leukemia July 21, 2010, "we weren't sure how to handle this."
"But through the support we've got from friends, word of mouth, this is a wonderful place to be. The support has been great," Julia said.[[In-content Ad]]Julia is a loan officer at First Federal. She said they've been very supportive and letting her work around when she has to take Bailey to the clinic.
Bailey also has received a lot of cards from her friends, family and other supporters, which she loves.
Treatment has made her feet, ankles and hands hurt, and it's hard for her to walk sometimes. Her equilibrium can be off. Through her illness in November, getting up to go to the bathroom was the biggest thing she did. Now, as long as she hangs on to things like railing, she's OK.
But Julia said Bailey has been really positive about everything.
One day at Riley, there was a girl who was newly diagnosed. Her family had never seen a doctor before. Bailey shared her experiences with the girl and the family, telling them how it was and how she felt. Bailey told her it doesn't hurt and everything will be OK.
Julia said that through Riley, some of the families have gotten close and started a foundation to raise money for childhood cancer. Of the $4.6 billion out there for cancer research, only 4 percent of it is for childhood cancers, Julia said.
The mission of the foundation, SayLoveFoundation.org, "is to cause the cure of childhood leukemias. We will accomplish this mission by raising and providing funds and grants for the purpose of childhood leukemia research. The Say Love Foundation Inc. will also provide programs, and funds to children, and their families, who are diagnosed with childhood leukemia and to raise awareness of this terrible disease," according to its mission statement.
Each month, Pepsi gives away more than $1 million to a cause voted on by the public at its website at www.refresheverything.com Currently, SayLoveFoundation.org is ninth to win $250,000. People can vote online for Pepsi to give the grant to the foundation, or they can text 73774 with the message 105654. Julia said people can vote every day.
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