Émilie-Rose is a child that everyone dreams of: Independent, curious, and cheerful. In short, an easy child.
On January 7, 2019, our family’s lives changed forever. We had a meeting with a hemato-oncologist who delivered some terrible news: our Emilie-Rose had leukemia. We were looking at 27 months of treatment if all went as planned. The first few weeks were the most tumultuous with all the hospital visits and phone calls. We were lucky to have so much support from our community during this time. We can't be thankful enough for all the gestures of love and generosity towards us. We were able to focus on our family. Marc-André worked tirelessly, supported us financially, listened to my distress and attended all the appointments our daughter had at the hospital. The first nine months were intense, but Emilie-Rose's body responded well to the treatment. One to four times a week we had appointments at the hospital for treatment. We were lucky to be surrounded by amazing grandparents, and such generous friends.
Amazingly, Emilie-Rose went to every appointment with a positive attitude. She wore her best clothes, always had a smile on her face, and made friends with the nurses.
We then graduated to the maintenance phase; Emilie-Rose began to have bi-weekly appointments at the hospital. I, as a mom, was lucky enough to be home to take care of my kids while Dad worked to support us. Despite the maintenance phase, we still faced nights in the hospital, a helicopter transfer and endless hours of worry. When on March 12, 2021, Emilie-Rose was able to ring the bell after she was deemed cancer-free, we felt this was the sound of victory.
