Mya Bee Strong

***Updated***

On 9/22/24, Mya passed away peacefully at the age of 9.

Mya was born a healthly girl, but if you know her story, she had leukemia at the age of 2. Cancer related treatments saved her but also damaged her body and eventually her body had had enough. Even with her struggles, she continued to smile when she heard our voices and we tried to make her life as full as possible. She will always remain in our hearts and even though we know she is okay now, we will miss her every day for the rest of our lives.

(Mya's story)

Mya June was just 2 years old when diagnosed with (AML M6) Acute Myeloid Leukemia in her central nervous system which created solid tumors in her brain and spine.

Mya started having seizures in Feb 2017, after hitting the back of her head on a sliding board in our yard while playing with her big brother, Logan. 

After a few more seizures which led to several emergency room visits, an MRI was scheduled. While waiting for the MRI to take place, Mya started vomiting and complaining of headaches. I contacted the drs offices and insisted that the MRI take place sooner than originally scheduled.

On March 16th at The University of Maryland, the MRI showed that she had a tumor on her brain. The doctors referred us to Johns Hopkins Hospital and Mya was admitted with the anticipation of having brain surgery to remove the tumor. On March 20th, the tumor was removed and we were told that further treatment would be needed.

While waiting for the results of the pathology, Mya recovered from surgery with a follow-up full body MRI scheduled for April 7th. 

That same day we received the devastating news that Mya had a rare type of AML and that the tumor had already started growing back. 

Mya was due to be admitted into the hospital on April 11th to start treatment but on April 10th Mya had another seizure.

Mya was admitted to hospital that evening and started chemo therapy on April 11th.

She has had aggressive treatments such as chemo, 12 IT chemos, 22 radiations to her brain, 12 radiations to her spine and a bone marrow transplant.

She landed in the PICU October 2017 for 3 weeks with pneumonia and then in February 2018 for close to 9 months with a swollen spinal cord.

She finally went home in January 2019 and has been home ever since.

Mya has brain stem as well as damage to her spinal cord C1 - C4.

She is currently on a ventilator with 1 liter of oxygen, she is quadriplegic and blind from treatments. 

I am currently Mya's caregiver and momma, always.

Mya is now 9 years old and has been in remission since December 2017.

I also have a facebook where I provide updates and show everyday life https://www.facebook.com/myabeestrong

We appreciate all the support as we continue to fight alongside our Mya Bee.

Please take a moment to share and donate.

Thank you so much!

Chrissy Kahler

White Marsh, MD