The diagnosis

It all started on a Friday, I picked her up at daycare. Her educator told me she wasn’t feeling good. She had a bit of a fever and she didn’t want to play near the educator. In the evening, her state deteriorated very quickly. Her fever went up. It reached 40 and she wasn’t moving anymore. She stopped walking and told us her legs hurt. I was so worried. We went to the emergency. They did an ultrasound of her hips, blood tests, X-rays and an MRI to see what was going on in her hips and a bone marrow aspirate. After the bone marrow aspirate, the hematologist came to tell us it was positive, she had leukemia. We understood we caught it pretty early because it was not in her blood yet, it was only in her bone marrow. Thankfully we reacted quickly. There was a part of me that was a bit relieved to know what was happening, because the whole month of October had been difficult. She had a few inexplicable fevers. She had a few crisis and we didn’t understand what was going on. There was a side of me that was like, okay, now that we know the problem, we will be able to face it.

About the Leucan services

Financial Assistance

My husband took a sabbatical, but with a federal program that helps parents of ill children, but it’s not a lot of money. I took a six month leave from work and I had private insurance covering party of my salary, but it wasn’t 100% of my salary either. So our family income was really limited. Any help or financial support helps at this point. The bills keep coming in, we still need to pay our mortgage, pay the car, the meals, there’s so many things and there’s the medication on top of that. It’s really hard for a family, it’s hard financially.

Alleviate physical and psychological pain

Zoë is really shy. The benefits we see [in the massages], it’s with her relationship with José and the fact she’s allowing her to give her more massages every time. At first, the first session, she didn’t even touch her. The second session, she only massaged her feet, third session, she did her feet and her hands. Last time she came, she did her back. I can’t say if physically, it feels good for Zoë, but emotionally, to trust someone else to touch her, I find it very beneficial. Because with everything she’s going through at the hospital, every time the doctors touch her, it’s not necessarily with her permission. It’s a moment, the massage, where she can give or not her permission and little by little, yes, she accepts. She sees there are pleasant touches. I find it important to know that.

Fight cancer and improve treatments

It represents the future and hope. To me, it’s super important that there is research, clearly, because if Zoë is doing so well today, it’s because there has been in the past. Thanks to research, to everyone who has been through it before her, it works and her experience can then help someone else. I see it like the steps of a staircase. The progress continues.

Break families out of their isolation and contribute to their well-being

Leucan has been wonderful for us, because of all the activities. We were so isolated and before the leukemia diagnostic, we were a really outgoing family. We were very active, going out all the time, doing activities, seeing people. And then, all of a sudden, it came to a stop. With Leucan, we were able to do supervised activities that are safe for Zoë. We went to the Christmas party, the winter, snow fest and lots of other things Leucan suggested. It felt good to just get out of our bubble and see other people, meet parents who have been through similar situations, it really helped.

What your donations represent to Leucan and the families

It really allows us to have a bit of happiness and somewhat of a normal life in this very difficult ordeal. It puts a little balm, a little ray of sunshine through a bunch of dark clouds. It really helped us.