Kristy and Steven Colakidis’ daughter Samantha lives with an incurable form of cancer.
Samantha was diagnosed with stage 4 high-risk neuroblastoma at just three years old in June 2019 after the couple noticed a yellowing bruise on her left eyebrow bone.
Since, Samantha has undergone chemotherapy, keyhole surgery, a double stem cell transplant, and radiotherapy.
“They basically take your child to the brink of death and then bring them back again,” Kristy recalls.
“She had six or seven machines going and alarms and every doctor would come running into the room to see if she needed to go to ICU (Intensive Care Unit) or not.”
“She’s a tough little cookie.”
Things weren’t looking bright.
The radiotherapy particularly damaged her kidneys and caused hearing loss and the odds were stacked against her.
That’s when Kristy and Steven began considering other treatment options, landing on a DMFO data-supported trial in the US that prevents cancer from reoccurring.
They boarded a flight to the US in October 2020 and dealt with a headache of travel restrictions, but Kirsty says “even if it increases her chance of survival by 5%, it is worth it.”
Today, Kristy and Steven know there’s a chance of Samantha’s cancer reoccurring, but they try to focus on what they have right now.
“I’ve got her, she’s with us now, she’s alive, that’s all that matters,” Kristy says.
Source: Honey Nine
