The Incredible Izzy

This is Izzy.  She loves playing with her siblings, watching Elmo, and riding horses. “Izzy lives in Littleton. This bubbly little blue-eyed, brown-haired beauty recently took her first steps and is now a proud walker. She is changing the world one giggle and smile at a time. This little girl has accomplished a lot in her 3 years, but it’s bigger than you know. On top of the amazing things that make her Izzy, she is also a cancer warrior.

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness month, and we want to help spread awareness by sharing stories from local cancer warriors like Izzy. To share your story or if you know of someone who is on this journey, please consider emailing kvanderwal@gigisplayhouse.org.

Izzy was born with a blood condition, called Transient myeloproliferative disorder or TMD, which increased her risk of being diagnosed with  Acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Even though Izzy’s TMD resolved when she was three months old, a few months later, at just eight months old, she started breaking out with little red spots on her body, which are called petechiae. Those petechiae were an immediate indication that something was not right with Izzy’s blood counts and, sure enough, a routine blood draw showed that her platelets were below the normal levels. A few days later, Izzy had a bone marrow biopsy which confirmed every parents’ worst nightmare, and officially led to her diagnosis of Acute megakaryoblastic leukemia (AMkL).

Izzy spent close to six months in the hospital and underwent five rounds of intense chemotherapy treatments. She was only allowed to leave the hospital to go home for about a week in between each of her treatments. Izzy and her family received an early Christmas gift in 2017 when Izzy’s counts recovered high enough for her to be able to go home for good on December 9, 2017!

Izzy and her family donated a bell to Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children for all of the childhood cancer warriors.  It is proudly on display in the main lobby. Izzy is right back on track with her development and enjoys riding her horse, Harley, swimming with her brother and sister, playing with her many baby dolls, reading and watching her best buddies, Elmo and Abby. She is an amazing childhood cancer warrior and will be three years cancer free this upcoming December!!