Haley was born March 26, 2003 at 11:19AM, two minutes after her fraternal twin sister, Abby. She weighed 7 lbs 4 oz, and was a gorgeous newborn with big blue eyes and peach fuzz blonde hair. In addition to her twin, Haley has two older sisters, Megan 9 and Katie 7.

Haley had always been a very healthy little girl. Then September 4, 2007 came along and everything changed.  Haley was not herself in the weeks leading up to her diagnosis.  She was pale and very tired all the time.  After a weekend at the beach with her Nana and Papa during which she became very short of breath while walking back from the beach, we decided to take her to the pediatrician.  He drew her blood and found her to be very anemic, but more disturbing was what was causing the anemia. From the blood test, he suspected leukemia.

We were immediately sent to the Emergency Room at Massachusetts General Hospital where they performed more tests and admitted Haley.  She received blood and platelet transfusions. The next day, September 5th, the oncologist did a spinal tap and bone marrow biopsy and gave Haley chemotherapy directly into her spinal fluid.  By the end of the day, we got a definitive diagnosis of Pre-B Acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Haley spent 23 days in the hospital during her Induction.  She's been admitted twice for fevers and once for transfusions.  She has completed her Induction, Consolidation, Interim Maintenance and Delayed Intensification phases of treatment.  Right now, she is in Long Term Maintenance and will be until November 2009.  In April, she was diagnosed with Avascular Necrosis and we've stopped her steroids.

Haley is an amazingly strong little girl and has shown more strength and spunk than most adults.  After her chemotherapy and spinal taps, she often goes for a ride on her big wheel.  She is such an inspiration and she is my hero.

Written by Jennifer Slaney, Haley’s Mother
03/09