Ava was born just over a month early on February 8, 2011. The doctors had hoped her condition would correct itself and, once born, she would be okay. Within a week, Ava relapsed and was in need of her seventh blood transfusion. We were told at this time for her to sustain life, she would need continual blood transfusions but still they said, “We don’t know why.”
Our family became a permanent fixture in Pediatric Cancer Care Manitoba. The weekly visits for blood transfusions and tests were always emotionally and physically draining. Ava was so very small and her veins were no bigger than a hair. It was not unusual for her to receive 6-8 “needle pokes” to find a vein that would take and hold an intravenous needle.
Read More