Elizabeth Forte
Elizabeth was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) on May 13,2010.
Elizabeth’s journey began with a limp. Her family originally thought she had toxic synovitis due to a virus, like her twin brother Luca. After a month of limping, her pediatrician ordered a CBC and an x-ray of her lower leg. The CBC showed perfectly normal numbers and her X-ray was negative. After months of more full body X-rays, and a bone scan, the tests continued to come back negative.
Elizabeth broke her arm and we went to a pediatric orthopedic surgeon. She had suffered from a green stick break in her wrist, something typical in toddlers. She wore a cast for four weeks and it healed perfectly. After she continued to complain of severe pain, the orthopedic surgeon began to think that it was juvenile arthritis and she was treated with an NSAID for a few weeks. Because he knew we were diligent about testing and really wanted something to prove that it was arthritis, he ordered an MRI.
Thankfully, Elizabeth had the MRI a month earlier than scheduled. The MRI showed abnormalities and more tests were needed. Elizabeth had another CBC and a visit to the pediatric hematologist/oncologist, where possibilities were explained and a bone marrow biopsy was ordered.
Six months after her limping began, Elizabeth had a biopsy. That evening her family received a phone call in stating that Elizabeth had ALL. These results were a shock to all involved, as previous tests had all been negative, and aside from her limping, Elizabeth has been very healthy – not typical of a child with leukemia.
Her bone marrow was at 87% replacement with bad cells. Elizabeth has one year left of the 2-1/2 year protocol, but Elizabeth is a little trooper and she is doing so well already. ALL has an 80% success rate and we know with the Lord guiding the doctors’ hands that we will beat this.
Brooke - Elizabeth’s Mom
