Sterling M.
Hawaii
Birth Date -   September 09, 2009

Main Diagnosis -   Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

THEME:    " Cats" 
Sterling's Story

When Sterling was 4 years old, she started running low grade fevers. We were living on Maui and the doctors there weren’t concerned at first. Finally blood work was done and the call I received was not good. They wanted us to go to Honolulu to see a specialist at Kapi’olani Women and Children's Medical Center. By the time a flight could be booked, Sterling’s condition had deteriorated rapidly. She couldn’t stand on her own and her speech was slurred.

At Kapi’olani she was given platelets and stabilized. More testing was done and it was determined her bone marrow wasn’t producing new blood cells. A cause wasn’t determined and we were discharged and returned to Maui.

 
Within weeks the fevers returned. The hospital on Maui did blood work and found her blood count had once again plummeted. Once Sterling was stable, we flew back to Honolulu. All of the tests performed there, including a bone marrow aspiration, showed no signs of cancer. While that news was a relief, not knowing what was wrong seemed even worse. I took Sterling home in time for Halloween with standing orders for blood transfusions.

 
In November and early December things were going well. On December 16th, Sterling complained about pain below her ear. I found an enlarged nymph node there and she was running a temperature. I took her to the ER and blood work was done. Within hours she was flown by air ambulance to Honolulu. That would be the last time we left our home on Maui. She ended up being inpatient at Kapi’olani for 89 consecutive days, and it was during that stay that she was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia with PH+ Chromosome.

 
Thankfully Sterling hasn’t been admitted since February 2015. She is scheduled to receive her last IV chemo on September 21st, and her last oral chemo on December 20th. Treatment has been very difficult and has caused severe hearing loss in both ears. There have been many setbacks, but we don’t expect any more of those. By the time treatment ends, Sterling will have been inpatient 181 days, plus have spent another 108 days in outpatient clinic.  
Thank You"
The quilt arrived just in time for her birthday, It's perfect!! We ended up back in the hospital Saturday and she's got it at the hospital with us!