This sassy, pint-sized cheerleader is packed with larger than life girl power. Ally cheers for the Charlton County Rebels and Kyle Bush; she is a huge NASCAR fan. Ally is also a great fashionista and loves to wear Matilda James, which is chemo friendly clothing. That’s right, this gorgeous little pumpkin is currently battling cancer.
Ally was diagnosed with B-cell ALL Leukemia on May 19, 2016, the day before her 3rd birthday. She is considered “high risk” because of how high her white blood cell count was when they diagnosed her. It was bruising all over her body that prompted her parents to bring her to the hospital. It was a good thing that her body gave them cues to follow, because had they waited, the results would have been devastating. Doctors said that she would have had uncontrollable bleeding and that her tiny body was working so hard to fight the cancer that her heart would have given out if she wasn’t treated timely.
Luckily, they caught it at this very critical point and she had a high priority surgery to place her port and she was receiving chemo within 16 hours of being diagnosed. To date, Ally has endured 28 blood transfusions, 29 bags of platelets, 34 lumbar punctures and 2 bone marrow aspirations. She has spent 113 nights in the hospital as well as 42 days in the clinic at the hospital for chemo. Being the intense fighter that she is, she has also survived 4 life threatening infections in her blood stream while receiving chemo.
Although she is tough and keeps on fighting, the chemo has taken its toll on her causing her difficulty being able to walk because her legs are so weak. This has been the hardest thing for her because she desperately wants to keep up with her brother, Jay. She now wears braces to keep her feet aligned with her legs so that she doesn’t trip over her own feet. Her will to beat this horrible disease and her passion for the greatest things in life have kept her family strong. Leaning on that strength and focusing on her beautiful future will get them through as she will continue this battle through the remainder of her treatment, which is scheduled through September 2018.
