St. Jude patient Mikayla smiling bright outside with the mirrored windows of St. Jude in the background.
 

Mikayla is back to her smiling self

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Over Christmas 2020, something was clearly wrong with then one-year-old Mikayla. She was pale. She didn’t want to eat or play. She didn’t giggle, even when tickled.

When bloodwork showed extremely low hemoglobin, she was hospitalized for several blood transfusions. These perked her up — but only temporarily.

Then a bone marrow biopsy showed Mikayla had blood cancer.

 
St. Jude patient Mikayla laughing outside.
 
 
St. Jude patient Mikayla smiling in her mother's arms outside of the hospital.

St. Jude patient Mikayla and her mom

 

There are experiences, I think, in human life where we run out of tears, and that was one of them.

— Juan Manuel, Mikayla's father

 
 

Families, like Mikayla's, will never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food.

 
 

Mikayla was referred to St. Jude where her cancer was identified as acute myeloid leukemia.

Around this time, her great-grandmother received a certificate of appreciation for supporting St. Jude, to which she had donated for more than a decade. It seemed like a sign of hope.

 
St. Jude patient Mikayla in her grandmother's arms, holding her mother's hand.

St. Jude patient Mikayla with her mother and grandmother

 

Mikayla successfully underwent chemotherapy. She is now finished with treatment and doing well. 

Mikayla's grandmother says, "Our Mikayla is back!"

 
 
St. Jude patient Mikayla smiling outside the hospital on a sunny day.
 

Your donation can give St. Jude families a gift that could last a lifetime.

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