Hopes soar after cancer fight
Lodi 3-year-old triumphs over rare cancer
A year ago, 3-year-old Anastasia Leach was battling a rare liver cancer that had spread to her lungs. Today, she is in the early stages of her journey as a cancer survivor.
Leach was diagnosed with hepatoblastoma in November of 2016 just after Thanksgiving, and has been in remission for eight months. She completed her cancer treatment last June when all of her scans were clear and her tumor marker, monitored through blood draw, was normal, according to Anastasia’s mother Rosa Leach.
Anastasia had her liver tumor removed in April of 2017, three months before finishing treatment.
“Once she had that tumor removed and she healed from that, she was a different person,” Rosa said. “She was more happy, more wanting to play and be more active. It was almost like it lifted a huge weight off of her.”
Anastasia also had to have her gallbladder removed. The surgery was about eight hours and Rosa said Anastasia healed pretty quickly. Following the surgery she had two more chemotherapy treatments before her treatments officially came to an end.
Fortunately for Anastasia, she did not require a liver transplant.
“That’s one thing we were concerned may have been a possibility but the surgeons who took the tumor out of her liver believed that they could perform the resection without needing the transplant, but they told us that they would not be able to be 100 percent certain until they started the surgery,” Rosa said.
Through the course of Anastasia’s cancer treatment, her doctors monitored her lungs and liver. Her body responded well enough to the chemotherapy that when the doctors looked at her lungs the spots that were there previously had disappeared.
“Once (Anastasia) had that tumor removed and she healed from that, she was a different person. She was more happy, more wanting to play and be more active. It was almost like it lifted a huge weight off of her.”
Anastasia had a CT scan in December and there was no evidence of cancer in her lungs.
“Every day I’m so grateful to hear that news,” Rosa said. “They were telling us that that might be a possibility before they were even done with her cancer treatment because the numbers of her tumor marker were going down. Every day I pray that she continues to beat this disease.”
According to Rosa, one would never know that her daughter had battled cancer. She has gained back all the weight that she lost, her hair is growing in and she’s an active and happy little girl.
“She playing, running, walking and talking, a lot of those things that when she was in treatment she did not do,” Rosa said.
Despite having experienced this at such a young age, Anastasia had an awareness of what was happening.
Rosa recalled one morning when Anastasia asked her if she would have to go to the hospital that day.
“I was like ‘oh my gosh, she’s so little and she understood that sometimes we wake up and go to the hospital.’ Thank God I could sit there and tell her ‘no you don’t have to go to the hospital. You’re done.’” Rosa said. “She understands that she feels better, that she doesn’t feel the way she did, that she’s not going to the hospital and that she’s not going to the doctor visits.”
Rosa said that the experience has made her daughter stronger both physically and mentally, noting that Anastasia learned to be more trusting of doctors.
ROSA LEACH, MOTHER OF ANASTASIA
Now Anastasia has an oncology visit every other month to monitor her tumor marker. She had one last week and all her numbers were great. If she continues to have positive results after five years, she will be considered cancer free.
“We just go visit by visit because I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself or too far behind. If she has one oncology visit every two months, that is good for me,” Rosa said.
Due to the chemotherapy, Anastasia suffers from hearing loss and Rosa is still trying to get confirmation on her range of hearing. Anastasia’s speech is slightly delayed, but she has been working with a speech therapist and is showing improvement.
The whole ordeal has been lifechanging for Anastasia and her family, Rosa said.
“You see your child deteriorate and become so ill that they don’t want to speak, they don’t want to walk, that they’re in so much pain that you have them on constant pain medication, that they go to the hospital for days and weeks at a time, and it really puts a lot of things into perspective to where you don’t sweat the little things.”
Through everything, Rosa said, they kept their faith. The Leaches prayed for continued progress in Anastasia’s health and that her painful days are behind her.
In times when she had lost hope, Rosa said her husband, Daniel, always had a positive outlook and her dad provided constant comfort and support. Rosa said a close friend who has a sibling who is a cancer survivor also kept her encouraged.
A local news station did a report on Anastasia, and after seeing the story, a young woman who is a hepatoblastoma survivor of 25 years connected with the Leach family.
“She has given us a lot of hope, a lot of encouragement and to see how she is today, a grown woman who survived this type of cancer that our daughter has, it’s very uplifting to see everything she has accomplished in her life.”
Anastasia has also bonded with another little girl who was suffering from cancer. Now both girls are in remission together.
“The girls met at least one time since they’ve been done with treatment, and it’s been a joy to see them interacting and not having to worry about hospital poles or IV poles or central lines because they’re done. It’s a huge accomplishment,” Rosa said.
Anastasia turned 3 last November and had a party in which they celebrated her numbers and scans being clear.
While Rosa is grateful that her daughter is now in remission, she still thinks of others that are fighting the battle. She encourages people to donate blood because children in treatment need blood and platelet transfusions. She applauded San Joaquin County Cancer Kids and Keaton's Child Cancer Alliance out of Roseville for their support. The Make A Wish Foundation has also reached out to Anastasia and will be granting her wish to meet Minnie and Mickey Mouse with a trip to Disneyland next month.
For families with children battling cancer, Rosa advises the parents and family members to be there for them and for friends and family to offer as much support as possible. During Anastasia’s battle they noticed that few people contacted them but were surprised by the people who did. A
quick “hey, how are you doing” makes a world of difference, Rosa said. She added that parents should remember that they are not alone. There are others going through the same challenges.
Patricia Hickey, a local clinical social worker and therapist, said in cases like Anastasia’s it’s very important to get to know how the person diagnosed is being affected because everyone is affected differently. When the child is as young as Anastasia, determining what they understand about their case is important because at that age they may not be able to gauge how dire the situation is. She advises that parents keep their child as optimistic as possible and engaged in their treatment. Do not assume that they are feeling a terrible tragedy, she said.
“An older person could be feeling terrified and this is a tragedy to them — this little one may not be feeling that,” Hickey said. “The child may not understand and you don’t want to push them toward that feeling of despair people would be expecting.”
Hickey said fear is the most common emotion that parents exhibit when their child is battling cancer. They worry if the treatment is going to work, what they would do without their child and how they would handle the situation and support their child, Hickey said. It is very important to focus on the present and take one step at a time, she advised.
Once the child is in remission, Hickey said worrying becomes a new normal for parents. Parents have to learn how to deal with the fear of the cancer possibly returning while remaining positive,
“The child may not have that fear,” Hickey said.
If a child is surrounded with positivity and love their healing process is going to be more positive, Hickey said.