After the birth of our two brave sons, Cayden and Franklin, I wish to have a third child as a daughter. That dream can come true on July 19, 2017, when our princess daughter was born; we named her Piper Winifred. We were so excited, especially her big brothers; we loved picking up sparkly clothes and tutus for her. Piper was a happy, healthy baby who made our family feel complete.
Piper start vomiting on May 2018. We thought it was a normal virus at first, but her fever got really high, and she looked very pale. The doctors noticed something unusual and said we should check out further. Soon after, I found a lump on her tummy and rushed her to the doctors. Tests show something very heartbreaking news: Piper has stage 4 neuroblastomas, a rare and aggressive cancer affecting children. It had already extended to her liver, lymph nodes, chest, and ovaries.
At only 11 months of age, she began the cancer fighting treatment. She went through the surgery, stem cell transplants, radiation, and immunotherapy, which caused her many effects. We visit the doctors daily. My husband needed to continue working, so I spent many nights at the hospital alone with Piper, missing out on special times with our boys. It took a lot after me, mentally and physically.
The most difficult part was the stem cell transplant. Piper was alone for four weeks. Her brothers missed her so much but could not see her.
We spent Christmas in the hospital, but by the miracle, Piper was allowed to return home on Christmas day. It was the most wonderful present we ever received.
By March 2019, Piper’s health started to worsen once more. She dropped pounds, experienced discomfort, and became less energetic.
I expressed my concerns, but the doctors believed it was merely a response to the treatment.
In June, we found a lump on her, and her eyes started to turn yellow. Scans verified that her cancer had recurred and moved to other areas of her tiny body.
No matter what we tried, we were told that her life was too damaged for clinical trials. We gave more cancer treatments a chance, but this did not work on her.
On June 20, 2019, after showing a little bit of improvement, she again got worse condition. That night, with both of us by her side, our brave little angle took her last breath. She was only 23 months old. Her brothers said goodbye. Seeing Cayden carry her tiny casket is something in our life that we will never forget.
The pain of losing Piper is something we feel every day. Seeing little girls celebrating holidays and Christmas is hard without her. But her fight showed how strong our family is and helped us appreciate the little moments in life. We will never stop thinking about her; we always talk about her and keep her brave little spirit alive.
