The Promise: A Docuseries on Childhood Cancer | Prologue: Elizabeth's Story.

put on some shoes. I went to get up and fell. My dad caught me. I'm sitting on the bed. I told him dad. I can't feel my legs. Everything just runs through me. My mind was that what is happening to me, why can't I feel my legs? Mine don't come back. I just screamed, screamed, damn it, at 3:00 a.m. m. asking for help because she was lying on the floor and kept saying I can't feel my body I can't feel my body I can't feel my legs How does this happen? Many thoughts ran through my mind because many times she asked me when I can dance again.

Some of the treatments were older, but they are also intended for adult bodies and are too aggressive on a little kid like me, and that's part of it. of what the symptoms were every time I was taking the only medication that made me throw up so much having a high fever not being able to eat for days almost giving me a feeding tube you can't prepare for those moments you know it was like that It was one of the hardest things, You know, going through all the treatment, going through more than 70 chemotherapy treatments, 20 radiation treatments, surgery to remove the tumor, going through a bone marrow transplant, a hundred days of isolation, six months of antibody therapy.

I'm always afraid. taking anxiety pills every time I have a test, especially MRIs, because they still sound like gunshots to me. The bone marrow transplant, watching her receive it, was heartbreaking, they pushed it in little by little and it hurt like hell. It's really hurt me to say "stop, stop, they kind of warned you that when we put it in her port, she might throw up immediately and she did, and it was, I mean, you just can't prepare for it, I mean, so you try." . To keep yourself together, you try to stay strong. Jennifer has been very strong through everything and you know I try to be there for her and Elizabeth.

It's a lot of pressure. I mean, I'll be honest with you. I felt the weight. of the world was on my shoulders to try to keep everything afloat, she came into my office one day and said she threw up in the bathroom and you know, I checked on her and said yeah, we'll call your parents until we call. and dad came and picked her up and you know I remember they even said you know well there's a test today so no she was sick and then you know I saw her later and she was on crutches and I was like Okay this is really weird you know she's sick and then she has pain in her hip and it just didn't add up it just seemed really strange to me her older brother Ethan was in my classroom at the time and we were actually just teaching seventh grade. undergraduate biology and we were going to start talking a little bit about

cancer

right then and there and

cancer

cells and that kind of stuff too, so many things were going through my mind and my classroom was the least of my worries, but just the fact that we all go together and you know, oh my gosh, how are we going to do what can we do what should we do what can we do what are we going to do to try to help everyone and it implies that our school had just started using a lot of Google products right when she was going into high school and there was a Google Hangouts program very similar to Skype and we were able to use it so that she could go to school if she was in the hospital or if she was in a car if she was at home, no matter where she was, she could attend classes if he felt well, which he did most of the time incredibly.

She just talked to mom every week or slow referenced, okay, when, when can we do some things? and we work for an hour, oh I would say probably once a week just to pick up on some concepts as a nurse, it's hard to switch off when I get home and change the subject. I have three children at home and one was complaining about his back. pain, so my mind was, you know, going everywhere with that, what stands out most about Elizabeth is her drive and determination to achieve so many things, cancer has not slowed her down in any way, in every way she has had, is full.

She is very inspiring the day I received the letter from the White House. I went to school not thinking that anything special was going to happen. Miss Elizabeth Whitener, dear Elizabeth. I recently learned of your brave fight against cancer. Your tennis spirit is inspiring. The courage you have shown in the face of uncertainty is a wonderful example of how to face life's challenges. Courage is not easy, especially when life is scary, but you are great because you have dared to be brave. Please know that you have my sincere love and support, ma'am. . Trump and I pray that you receive the strength to stay strong may God bless you and keep you obese sincerely Donald Trump and there is a signature everything was done we had a goal the goal was at the end of the 18 months of treatment that she Hopefully she I would be cancer free.

We had finished what was considered the COG protocol for a neuroblastoma and we went through all the scans, Ray scans and blood work and they called us and said they needed us to come to St. Louis we three mm-hmm before they always gave us information by phone. I thought this wasn't going to be good. She tried to say, you know, tell us, but that she had done everything she should. She was supposed to do it and she was a really strong fighter and she really worked hard and I thought she was going to get through this and then he said you still have cancer after four months of telling her that if she did everything she was supposed to do, I would.

Being well probably isn't something to tell a child if you absolutely don't have a crystal ball that says that if you go through 18 months of hell you'll be guaranteed no evidence of illness or remission. She was angry again. She was you. I know why I don't understand I did everything they asked me to do I did it I went through all the treatments I did everyone asked me just be strong you can do this and now all of a sudden you've done it with everyone What I had, I'd been through everything , he had been through hell and back, and now we still had to tell him that you still have bone marrow cancer.

It was very confusing because my husband was still trying to work well. I was. trying to get on the computer and figure out what we're doing, where we're going, I poured my heart out to people in some of these neuroblastoma parent support groups, asking them what do I do with our oncologist, basically, just to start looking, really looking . in you know where we're going to bury your child, when we're going to bury our child, the idea that it's a double-edged sword, the idea of ​​putting your child through more hell and not knowing what the outcome is versus that you son say it's over. challenging and so you have to go through all that to decide and you have to seek opinions and you have to talk to people and you have to talk to professionals in the field and when some of them come back and say they agree with your oncologist then you start to look what else is out there.

I have a nurse, her name is Jackie, she has been through this, she has been through this with me since I started, every time she is a nurse at the hospital I go to. and I am hospitalized, she always comes with me and talks, hugs me and makes me feel better. I also have a home care nurse. Her name is Tyler. I am a registered nurse at HS HS Homecare of Southern Illinois. I see Elizabeth on a regular basis to check on her, make sure she is okay and that everything is going well in the process.

She has also been in this with me since I started and he has always been available no matter what he says until he tells me. my mom, if something goes wrong, if you suspect anything, text me and I will come or get back to you right away. I have been there many times where she is weak and tired of lying on the couch and she doesn't want to. get up and do anything and I totally get it with everything, but she's a fighter, she's a go-getter and she's determined to do things. I also have PT physical therapy.

Your name is Sara and you have been my physical therapist since I started. In Dance, when Elizabeth was affected by some of the side effects of her treatment, she was initially very weak, so we had to start by just getting stronger at a very basic level to be able to stand up and walk safely, but then, like She has gained strength and regained many of her abilities her mobility we have been able to move forward to help her do the things she loves to do one of those things the main thing is to dance I feel like for me some people don't think that We don't give us the money because we are not profitable.

I think there needs to be more promotion and more awareness because there are a lot of people who don't necessarily know much about

childhood

cancer, so they knew. more about what's going on and which child's cancer it is, then they would feel like they would take action, which is what we need to recognize that

childhood

cancer has a place in society that children have a place in society, that's important, keep fighting and keep doing everything. she can for promoting childhood cancer because I think she is doing a very good job in that those women she continues to fight with, she will always be successful, never know, never be afraid if you are fighting cancer right now, don't let that prevents you from doing it.

What you love for me is dancing. I didn't let that stop me from dancing. Yes, I had to stop dancing for a couple of months, but I guess I was actually already a little off before the doctors told me I could dance again. I went so soon. as I could to the first dance class I could because dancing is my life I was very sad without it so keep doing what you love even if you are fighting cancer lie down let me take you tell me how much you took I want to be the soft shoulder that I feel Denis Don, can you stand up straight?

Your knees, boy, like you're marking things. How much ham? I want to be a soft shoulder for you to lean on. It's time to resist silly. Oh, to be in the Opel, to be in the corners of the dawn.