Ten years ago, Krissy and Rob Pitts of Free Union, Virginia, got devastating news. The earaches and fevers plaguing Anna — their youngest daughter, not yet 2 years old — turned out to be the most common cancer of childhood — acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Completely blindsided, they entered a whole new world of treatment and uncertainty. They watched their toddler spend 2½ years in chemotherapy. It wasn’t a given. But today, Krissy and Rob have a healthy 12-year-old childhood cancer survivor.
Reflecting back, the couple has words of wisdom for parents just starting on the childhood cancer journey. First, their backstory.
In 2011, their Anna was a fun-loving toddler who loved to dance. But then, for seemingly no reason, she stopped walking. In September that year, Anna became one of some 3,000 children in the U.S. to be diagnosed with ALL. Leukemia is a cancer of the blood cells and typically strikes in the toddler years to age 5.
The silver lining? Anna’s type of cancer has the highest cure rate. “This type of leukemia is one of the great success stories of pediatric oncology over the past 30 years,” says Brian Belyea, MD, UVA Children’s pediatric oncologist. “When I was Anna’s age, the survival rate was 60%. Today, the survival rate for what she had is 90%.”
Source: Q&A: Parents of a Childhood Cancer Survivor Share Words of Wisdom
