In 2019, five-year-old Avery was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis (LCH), after experiencing mysterious pains in her head and one of her legs. While the diagnosis was devastating for Kristin, Avery’s mom, she was also relieved to be told that the odds were good for her daughter’s kind of cancer.
To start her treatment, Avery endured multiple tests, scans and biopsies to locate the cancer. Lesions and tumours were found in her bones, mainly on her skull and pelvis. A one-year regimen of chemotherapy began right away.
While the treatment was successful, it was short lived, with a recurrence of a tumour found in November 2020. A new treatment protocol was introduced, and Kristin says that “Avery’s treatment is going successfully so far and we are optimistic about the future.”
The team at BC Children’s Hospital have come to be a second family to Kristin and Avery, and they are grateful for the amazing care even through the pandemic. “Not only are they working in one of the hardest jobs in health care, they now have been doing it through this pandemic and continue to provide the same quality service to BC kids,” says Kristin. “Their dedication means my little girl is progressing in the right direction and doing well in her fight; I don’t know how to thank them all enough.”
Through it all, Kristin has also been amazed by Avery’s resilience. Kristin says that even after all that Avery has been through, “she is still the happiest little girl, that not even cancer can take her smile away!”
