Welcome to Team Scarlett!! We are kicking some butt!! (that's right I said it) Just like Scarlett did! She beat this and we are on our way to helping other kids win the fight! Thank you for visiting our page! Please help us beat our goal (I might have to raise it again!)
Below is Scarlett's story in her Mom's words. Please take the time to read this so you know why this cause is so important to us.
< From a mere routine 2-year-old birthday well visit where routine bloodwork was drawn and coupled with the fact that a mother's intuition told me to talk to her pediatrician about her continuous ease of bruising, we found ourselves blindsided with test results that Scarlett was ill with AML M7 Leukemia on July 8th, 2011. In the following days, we found ourselves living at Johns Hopkins among a whirlwind of tests, surgeries, blood transfusions and the immediate start of approx. 6 months of in-patient, extremely aggressive chemo drugs to begin her battle of fighting off this horrific monster that entered our peaceful world. No one deliberately sets out to take life for granted, but it is human nature to get caught up in the everyday stresses and routine of life. Then the day comes when your whole world as you know it is ripped from you in an instant when you get the phone call that tells you that the dreaded 'C' word has invaded your home...and worse yet, it isn't you or your husband, but your tiny, defenseless, innocent baby. So, armed with the strength of our faith in God to pull us through, the support & prayers of our loving family and friends and the amazing doctors & nurses at JH Pediatric Oncology, we began our long and perilous journey to wage our war against this nightmare.





Scarlett is such an amazing, little soul and fortunately already had the spirit of fight built within to begin this battle. After her 1st round of incredibly intense chemotherapy, we held our breath to see if her body had responded in the way that we fervently prayed for. We needed her bone marrow to show that there were no 'detectable' cancer cells under the high sensitivity tests run at Hopkins and SCCA in Seattle...and YES, the test was clear! This allowed Scarlett to forgo needing a bone marrow transplant and if her bone marrow remained 'undetectable' after every chemo round, she would be able to continue on the plan of a total of 4 rounds of in-paitent chemotherapy (decreased from the original plan of 6 rounds!) She suffered for months on end with multiple infections, feeding tubes (and countless painful re-insertions of it through her nose/throat), intense nausea and vomiting, horrific chemo diaper rash and sores, severe mucousitis (open, weeping sores covering the inside of her mouth and throughout her entire GI tract), hair/eyebrow/eyelash loss, finger/toe nail loss...just to name a few. We had some incredibly scary moments and days throughout treatment and it can only be by the Hand of God that she never ended up in the PICU as so many children do. She had an incredibly hard time with losing her hair and we should never underestimate that a 2-year-old cannot feel this loss as an adult would. She was very sad and self-conscious about it for days on end and would try to hide her face/head when anyone would enter the room...it was completely heart-breaking for us to watch on top of everything else she was going through. By the grace of God, she made it through all 4 rounds of chemo and recovery and the cancer continued to be undetectable throughout. She finished treatment and was able to come home to begin her out-patient maintenance on December 10th, 2011, just 1 day after of our 5 month anniversary of admittance to JH. She is considered to be in remission at this stage, but we have a 5 year waiting period where the potential for relapse is always there. The first year or two is where the relapse risk is greatest and we don't expect to be getting alot of sleep due to worrying, especially on the nights leading up to her Oncology checkups every few weeks. However, we realize that it is out of our hands and what will be, will be, so we will spend our days savoring each moment and enjoying the blessings that God has bestowed upon us. We also plan to work very hard to raise awareness and research funds, so that scientists can break the code for curing children and adults of these cancers. We should by no means take for granted that we will never be on the receiving end of the fruits of this research.




Scarlett came home just in time to celebrate Christmas with her 4-year-old brother, Gavin and she was captivated by the magic of the season. At 2 years old, she truly appreciated everything about the holiday and of just being able to be home with her family. She was thrilled that Santa brought her Snow White, Rapunzel and Flynn Rider Barbie dolls (her favorites) and her very own kiddie digital camera as she is quite obsessed with taking pictures and movies! She is still under a bit of seclusion at home due to her immune system being so compromised and infection risks associated with her central line not having been removed from her chest yet, but she is able to have some adult visitors that follow certain precautions to keep her safe. She is greatly looking forward to the day that she will be able to see little friends and cousins again and play as she used to. She is very anxious to be able to go swimming again, as she has always been quite the little mermaid. She was a very smart cookie when she entered JH all those months ago, but this process forces children to lose their innocence and mature at a much more rapid pace. Living with Scarlett now, feels much more like having a 3.5 year old in the house only she is trapped in a tiny body. Scarlett is a beautiful, energetic, comedic, dramatic, silly, sassy and incredibly smart and articulate little girl...she is our sweet angel and we are beyond estatic that she is back home with us to heal and be able to just be a kid again. As always, we ask that the prayers continue for our baby until we can shut the door on this journey once and for all. God Bless...