Update on Ambassador Zoe, the Cancer-Fighting Dancer [VIDEO]
Zoe, a 2010 St. Baldrick’s Ambassador, was diagnosed with Ph+ ALL when she was 4 years old. Now 9, Zoe is starting fourth grade, taking hip hop and ballet classes, and is starting treatment with a targeted chemotherapy pill. Zoe’s mom, Suzanne, gives us an update.
2010 St. Baldrick’s Ambassador Zoe with her mom, Suzanne. Zoe recently started treatment for a molecular relapse due to Ph+ ALL.
When I think of all the things Zoe has seen and done in her life, it is hard to believe she is only 9 years old.
When Zoe was 4, she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. At first we were told it was the best-case scenario, that leukemia had great treatments and outcomes.
Eight days later, that all changed.
Goodbye Cancer. Hello 3rd Grade.
Zoe was four at the time, and had started limping. My animated, lively daughter, who once turned hallways into runways, was hardly moving. It was a complete, dramatic shift – something I knew was more than just growing pains.
And it was. In 2008, my sweet girl was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common form of childhood cancer. “She has good odds,” they told us. Survival rates are high for this type of cancer and she should be able to continue most of her normal activities during treatment. We were shocked, but full of hope.
Eight days later, we received a second set of news. And this time, it was worse.