MyKenzi Is Cancer Free
Mykenzi Adams, a Jasper County Primary School kindergartner, has been deemed as “cancer free” by her medical team at Egleston Children’s Hospital in Atlanta, according to her mother Chelsie Morrell-Williams.
Readers may remember Mykenzi from a story The News published in December 2015, just weeks after being diagnosed with Stage 4 High Risk Neuroblastoma—a cancer that forms in the nerve tissue. It usually begins in the adrenal glands, neck, chest or spinal cord. The cancer often begins in early childhood. Mykenzi was three when the cancer was diagnosed first in her chest and later in her hips, femur, and pelvis. The illness was discovered when Mykenzi complained of leg pains.
Alas, that was then. Fast forward to 2017, Mykenzi has since undergone:
1) Surgery to biopsy a tumor on a bone in her leg.
2) Two surgeries to place and remove the central venous line (CVL) in her chest.
3) Surgery to remove 98 percent of the largest tumor which wasn’t shrunken by chemotherapy.
4) Six rounds of chemotherapy.
5) Two stem cell transplants with two harsh high doses of chemotherapy.
6) Twelve rounds of radiation.
7) Six rounds of immunotherapy
8) Six rounds of precautionary medication which she finished last week.
And of course all of the above treatments came with numerous needle pokes, medications, feeding tubes and countless days in the hospital (most of which fell on major holidays).
On July 26, 2017, Mykenzi’s family was given the news that she officially was NED (showing no evidence of disease) .
“We hope and pray it stays that way!” said her mom Chelsie.
Though cancer free, Mykenzi now suffers from hearing loss in both ears at about 90 percent and has to wear hearing aids—a result from neuropathy stemming from the chemotherapy and post-traumatic stress disorder. She now has to undergo testing every three months for the first year just to ensure that it doesn’t come back. Mykenzi is slated for a test very soon.
She will also be going to speech therapy and getting a neuropsychological evaluation to see where she is academically because the neuropathy has altered the way she obtains information.
“She is in kindergartner trying to live a semi-normal life because unfortunately it will never be fully normal for her,” said her mother. “However we are blessed to have her here with us and we will continue to let her live as a normal five-year-old.”
