Victoria was diagnosed with AML (acute myeloid leukemia) when she was just six months old. Her mom wrote, “My tiny little baby that was barely learning how to sit up on her own had cancer.”

Victoria’s treatment was so rough that she had to be hospitalized for most of it. For six months, she barely spent a night at home. All of her “firsts” happened in the hospital: she talked, crawled, and took her first steps there. Her first Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s took place in the hospital. And it was in the hospital that her family celebrated Victoria’s first birthday.

Victoria is now four years old and – wonderfully – in remission. She loves all things Disney, especially Mickey, Minnie, Doc McStuffins, and Sophia the First. She loves riding her bike, going to the playground, and being outside. She enjoys eating strawberries, tomatoes (her all time favorite), and spaghetti. She is very outspoken about what she wants or doesn't want, and she loves to be the boss, but she’s also very caring and compassionate.
Her mom wants other families facing a childhood cancer diagnosis to know that, “It may seem long and never ending, but if you just take one day at a time you will make it through. You are not alone in this battle.  You must accept help from others.”

She writes, “Victoria is my hero because she has  been through so much more than I could imagine going through myself, and she has always been a positive and happy person. She lights up a room anywhere she goes because she just makes people feel genuinely happy.”

www.facebook.com/victoriasvoyage

Information provided by Heather Hernandez, Victoria’s mom
February 2014