#RachelStrong

Light of Our Lives

Our daughter Rachel was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia in 2017, at the age of 7, after suffering multiple brain injuries that took away her ability to speak and understand language.

Our lives changed dramatically, as we lived in the hospital for a year while Rachel received treatment, relapsed, and eventually got her bone marrow transplant. Her sister was her half match donor, which may not have been possible if not for research that had been done over the previous 5 years.
Almost two years post transplant now, Rachel still has weekly speech therapy visits, quarterly visits to the hospital for bloodwork and check ups with her oncologist, and annual visits with the cardiologist and neurologists. All this reminds us that Rachel is not out of the woods yet and more research needs to be done to find a cure.
When we began Team #Rachel Strong, we were running out of treatment options. We want to raise awareness around paediatric blood cancers and make difference for Rachel and other families that are living a similar journey. Everyones stories are slightly different, but we all have a common goal to end blood cancers. Our team has fundraised over $140,000 and every year the raising of the red, white and gold lanterns brings mixed emotions. Rachel will proudly walk with her white lantern this year as we carry our red, in support of the blood cancer community.

As a parent, even when your child is in remission, cancer is always in the back of your mind. You wonder whether it will come back and if there is anything you can do to prevent it, but our family keeps moving forward. We know families that have not been so lucky and with our support the LLSC can continue funding valuable research that is making a difference in treatment protocols, targeted therapies and most importantly, survival rates. We believe that our daughter is proof of that and we are so grateful to our family, friends and other donors that continue to support Light the Night and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada. You are the light in our lives and we are stronger together.