Reina’s Journey to Beat Leukemia

Hello, I’m Elizabeth, Reina’s Great Auntie and here’s how we got here:

Mid December 2022, Reina Carolyn Givan, had been sick with a cold that she could just not shake. At first, we thought it was something that would pass as we know children often get sick in the winter and Reina, being one of three kids, was just thought to of been passing back a cold with her brother and sister. The new year came and it seemed that the cold had gone away but soon after, her mom, saw her body temperature had started rising and would range between 97 but to nothing more than 99 degrees. She had also noticed a bit of swelling around Reina’s eyes. As any good mom, she gave her medicine to bring the temp down which would help temporarily but it would eventually come back up. Since it wasn’t technically a fever, it was thought to be nothing to worry about. On January 16th Reina’s temperatures started reaching 100-101 and was taken to Urgent care. After a urine test amongst other tests , the team at Urgent Care ruled out any Sinus Infection, RSV or the Flu as the tests administered had come back normal. It wasn’t until the next day, that Reina had complained to mama about some neck and stomach pain and it was back to the doctor they went. This time, she had gone to the emergency room. Unfortunately, she was dismissed rather quickly and it was chalked up to be a virus that “just needed to run its course” and once again, it was back to the house to wait it out. Over the next 3 days little Reina didn’t get better. She was still running a fever, her face was puffy and she was notably sleeping more than usual. On Sunday January 22nd, Reina got out of bed and fell weak on the floor with a gut wrenching scream. A scream that to this day, brings tears to mama’s eyes. It was time to go. Reina was taken to Advocate Christ and where blood tests were run only to discover that her Hemoglobin levels were at a 2. Normal levels for someone her age would be a 10.5 grams per deciliter. Her white blood cells were at an alarming 150,000 cells per microliter, when normal blood cell count is between 4,000-11,000 cells per microliter. Her spleen and liver were also enlarged. In about an hour, the nurses and doctors came to the heart shattering conclusion that Reina did in fact have Premature B- Cell Leukemia. For those who might not know, B-Cell Leukemia is an aggressive type of cancer in which too many B-lymphocytes accumulate in blood and bone marrow and crowd out other healthy blood cells, leading to anemia and low platelet counts along with making it harder for your body’s immune system to fight off infections like colds and pneumonia. This is unfortunately the most frequently diagnosed subtype of acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children and adults.

For anyone who doesn’t know Reina she is just a few days shy of her 3rd birthday. She can be described as the sweetest, sassiest and most independent little girl. She can make anyone melt as she tells you a story in her softspoken little voice. She loves to eat. Whether it be her picking bites off of someone’s plate or her own. You can never catch this little lady turning down a pancake, a nugget or yogurt melts. Reina loves music and loves to dance. Her favorite song at the moment is Lady Gaga’s ‘Bloody Mary’ aka the Wednesday song but she also enjoys anything Coco melon and “Call on me” by Lil Nas X. You can’t mention Reina and not mention her love of fashion and accessories. She loves having her hair done, wearing her array of bracelets, necklaces and who could forget her signature upside down glasses to really bring the look together. Reina also loves her nig brother, Orion and sister, Neriah and her cousins which she misses while being in the hospital as she sends them lots of shoutouts through snapchat.

As anyone can imagine, the blow devastated our family more than words could ever describe. We would wish that no one ever have to ever go through the uncertainty of those first 24 hours. Not knowing who, what, when, where and why. While we weren’t certain of what was to come, two things we were certain: No doubt that our family would be there for each other. No. Matter. What. and that we are getting through this together with the grace of our powerful God. And so, we did the only thing we could do, pray. Pray harder than we have ever prayed before. God heard our prayers along with the prayers of our friends and family because soon after the diagnosis, Reina started showing signs of improvement. Doctors stated that depending on how she takes to her initial Chemo treatment, they are very optimistic for her recovery. In the next few days, she regained her appetite, smile and the strength to move and walk around. Tests came back with the good news, the swelling on her spleen and liver have gone down, her platelet count had gone back down to a normal level and she is getting stronger by the day. So far, it seems that she is taking to her chemo well, even though it takes a lot out of her with each session. And as anyone can imagine, is extremely hard to watch as someone her age should be playing with barbies and her biggest stress should be her staying out of time-out. As hard as this has been, unfortunately this is just the beginning of a long road of recovery. She will be needing bi-weekly Chemo-therapy for the next two and half years which has been exceptionally hard on parents, Yvette and Ted. Not only do they both have the stress of this situation on their shoulders, they both took an unpaid leave this week to be at the hospital with Reina. Mom will have to take an unforeseen amount of time on leave to care for Reina as well. For those who have asked how you can help, this would be a great way to contribute and provide the family with some form of relief. All funds raised will be used to support the family with expenses through Reina’s medical journey, aftercare and whatever else may come up along the way. We Thank everyone truly from the bottom of our hearts for your generous donations and your continued support.