Hannah Hughes | 2011 Honored Hero
Hannah is an eight year old girl who is a 2nd grader at Wood Road School in Ballston Spa. She loves to
paint, draw, and write. Hannah enjoys the outdoors…especially camping. She also is a proud member of
4-H and took gymnastics classes. Hannah’s other interests include science experiments and crafts.
Hannah’s best quality is her positive attitude and ability to always see a “silver lining”.On November 29th Hannah went in to see her pediatrician for what we thought was a sinus infection. By that evening we were admitted to Albany Med and told that she had ALL. By the next day Hannah was beginning chemotherapy treatments for leukemia. To say the least we were in shock but we were told it was a very treatable form of cancer and the chemo protocol over the next 2 years would be mostly outpatient. As the week went on and more tests came back we found out that Hannah also had 2 genetic abnormalities and she was diagnosed with Philadelphia + ALL. This would change her treatment path – it meant more intense inpatient chemotherapy and they would be testing her 4 year old sister, Fiona, as a possible bone marrow match. It seemed that these genetic abnormalities would make it very difficult for Hannah to go into remission for the long term and relapse would be likely. The bone marrow transplant became Hannah’s best possibility to beat the cancer and luckily her sister Fiona was a perfect match.
Hannah spent 40 days at Boston Children’s hospital as a bone marrow transplant patient. The transplant was a success and Hannah is now out of the hospital. For the next 6 to 9 months Hannah will have many restrictions until her immune system rebuilds itself. We look forward to the days when she can have play dates, go to birthday parties, and return to school. It will take time but she will get there.
Please visit Hannah's Caring Bridge site here for more information.
