In the winter of 2009, Claire was a happy, healthy 4-year-old girl who started complaining that her shoulder hurt.  She complained for a few days and when it seemed to get worse, we finally took her for X-rays. We hadn't remembered any particular incident where she hurt it, but we had been sledding recently, so we thought she may have hurt it playing in all the snow. Nothing was found on the X-ray, but the doctors put her in a sling and we waited for a few weeks.  It seemed to be improving a bit, but we knew something bigger was going on when she woke one morning unable to walk because of knee pain.

The orthopedist admitted Claire to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) for four days of testing, including a full-body MRI.  Nothing was obviously wrong. The diagnosis from CHOP rheumatology was - Reactive Arthritis, presumably from a virus.  We expected it to work itself out of her system, so  we watched for a month as the joint pain went from knee to knee to ankle to shoulder again, but we weren't terribly concerned until it got so bad that she wasn't walking or eating.

Back to the rheumatologist, who admitted us again and ordered a full-body PET scan which showed inflammation in her bone marrow. With this, they suspected leukemia. After oncology performed a bone marrow biopsy the next day, they confirmed that indeed she had leukemia. Claire's leukemia had been a difficult one to diagnose, as the leukemia cells had not left her marrow but instead were multiplying and causing an increase in volume of her marrow, which caused the terrible bone pain.

It was certainly a mixed reaction, as a parent, to hear that our child had leukemia.   On one hand, we were horrified. Visions of hospital stays, chemotherapy, hair loss, vomiting, who knows what else. On the other hand, she was so sick, that we were happy to at least have something to try.  She couldn't walk, wasn't really talking, and hadn't eaten in 7 days.  After day 3 of her treatment, she could bend her knee and start to walk. After a week, we were starting to see our little girl come back.

Claire is currently finishing the last phase of her intensive, 7-month chemotherapy.  She also started Kindergarten this fall and enjoys playing and being a happy 5-year-old.  After Thanksgiving 2010, she will begin 2 years of maintenance therapy.  She is responding wonderfully to the treatment and is the bravest little girl we know.

Written by Sharon Brogan, Claire’s Mom
10/10

Update: On August 2, 2012 Claire successfully completed her 2 1/2 years of chemotherapy. She is happy and healthy and we are eternally grateful to everyone who has supported us and the children's cancer community.

Summer 2015 Update: In April 2015, Claire passed her 5 year mark for remission and graduated to annual visits with the Survivorship Clinic. We're thrilled to report that she is just perfect.