Taylor Loves Battle Against Cancer
Taylor Nicole Love was born June 27th, 2005 a beautiful, blue-eyed, blonde-haired baby girl. Her sparkling blue eyes told us she would be a charming, joyful sister to her brothers Adam and Kyle. As she sang and danced in anticipation of Christmas 2006, we noticed a bruised and apparent lazy eye. First a visit to her pediatrician followed by a trip to an ophthalmologist led us to our eventual nightmare. On December 12, 2006 our 18 month old baby girl was hospitalized and diagnosed with stage IV, high risk neuroblastoma a deadly cancer with no known cure. She had a tumor on her left adrenal gland, a tumor behind each eye and disease in her bone marrow. We would now learn what a horrible, aggressive and relentless disease this is.
Since her diagnosis Taylor has endured countless procedures, biopsies, blood transfusions and stays in the hospital. She has undergone 7 rounds of high dose chemotherapy, a surgery to remove the tumor in her abdomen and a stem cell harvest. She has completed several rounds of a phase I clinical trial which included immunotherapy treatment and IV radiation. She had undergone radiation treatments to her head, orbits and abdomen and is currently undergoing treatment in a phase II antibody trial at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in NYC.
This year, another enemy lined up against Taylor. She was diagnosed with MDS - which is a form of chemo-induced leukemia. Taylor underwent a bone marrow transplant in August 2010 and is now recovering at home. The ultimate success of the transplant will not be known for many weeks.
www.taylorlove.org