Langford’s Hannah Day has hit another milestone in her cancer recovery, having had her last weekly appointment at B.C. Children’s Hospital in Vancouver.
The five-year-old has just come back from her one-year checkup at B.C. Children’s Hospital and told she doesn’t need to return. She will now attend regular doctor and dentist appointments in the capital region.
“Our doctor was shocked when he realized this was the one-year [mark],” said Brooke Ervin, Hannah’s mother. “He decided to take her off all meds. No more hospital visits. … So overwhelming.”
Hannah was three when she received a diagnosis of rhabdomyosarcoma, a cancer that attacks muscle tissue. She had no sooner gone into remission than she was diagnosed with chemotherapy-induced leukemia in December 2013.
The young girl became the focus of media attention thanks to a large and successful appeal to find a stem-cell donor.
However, surgeons at B.C. Children’s Hospital opted to instead perform a rare “Hail Mary” haploidentical transplant, in which Hannah received stem cells from her mother. At that point, the child was too sickly to receive a donor’s stem cells.
The March 19, 2014, transplant was a success and doctors have considered Hannah cancer-free since.
Much of Hannah’s hair has grown back and she is attending kindergarten at Happy Valley Elementary — though infections, hospital visits and a broken arm have prevented her regular attendance. She plans to attend kindergarten again next year.
