For Kendra McLeod and her mother Bonnie, it is good to finally be at home. The two recently travelled back to Powell River after more than a year of living at BC Children’s Hospital and Ronald McDonald House, where Kendra has been fighting for her life.
Last year, Kendra had a bad case of the flu she just could not seem to shake. Her parents noticed their usually upbeat and energetic daughter, now 13, was sleeping all the time and not her usual self.
Several doctors visits were inconclusive, but on April 3, 2017, the family learned she had acute myeloid leukemia, a type of cancer that affects the bone marrow. Kendra began an intense course of chemotherapy and had a bone marrow transplant last August.
“They did the transplant and I got a very bad case of graph versus host disease [GvHD],” said Kendra. “That resulted in lung failure. They didn’t think I was going to make it; they had their suspicions but I pulled through.”
The lung complications are known as bronchiolitis obliterans, which cause sharp pains, shortness of breath and oxygen shortage.
“They call it popcorn lungs,” said Bonnie. “Kendra has very little use of her lungs right now. They don’t know if it is reversible.”
Kendra underwent surgery just after Christmas and is on medications to try and treat the GvHD. The medical care she receives is among the best in the world. Researchers at BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute are currently the world leaders in discovering biomarkers for children with GvHD.
The creation of these biomarkers will allow bone marrow transplant doctors around the world to identify GvHD before it causes severe life-threatening diseases, according Doctor Kirk Schultz, director of the Transplantation Applied Biomarker laboratory at BC Children’s Hospital and Kendra’s transplant physician.
“We are so close to using GvHD biomarkers to prevent the development of GvHD in kids,” said Schultz. “I am convinced with the work we are doing right now that within three years we will prevent the suffering Kendra endured from GvHD.”
For now, Kendra and her family are cautiously optimistic she will be able to remain at home.
“The next two and a half weeks is a trial to see how she does,” said Bonnie.
Top priorities are visits with family and friends, and lots of love from their two puppy dogs, according to Kendra.
“I’m really excited to see my niece and nephew,” she said.
The family is hopeful she will be able to begin grade eight this September at Brooks Secondary School.
“We’re hoping, but we don’t know what that looks like right now,” said Bonnie.
They remain upbeat and, above all, thankful to the community of Powell River for the huge level of support they have received.
“You can’t thank everybody enough, said Bonnie. “You really realize how much the community has your back.”
As the recipient of more than 30 transfusions, Kendra stresses the importance of donating blood.
“I can’t donate any blood now that I’ve had a bone marrow transplant and that made me very sad because I know how important it is,” she said.
Sometimes it can be the smallest, most unexpected kindnesses that make a huge difference in a day, said Bonnie.
“A letter showing up in the mail is huge when you’re spending so much time in the hospital,” she said. “We got letters from people we didn’t even know, just words of encouragement. It means more than you know.”
Thursday, May 3, is BC Children’s Hospital Jeans Day, an annual province-wide fundraiser that encourages BC residents to buy a pin or button and wear denim to support BC Children's Hospital. For more information, go to bcchf.ca/events/event-calendar/jeans-day/get-involved-2/.
