Alyks’ Journey

Alyks was born to be a fighter. She was born 7.5 weeks early, however was healthy upon birth and only spent 13 days in the NICU.  Around the age of 3 months old, we noticed she had what we thought was a cold, that just never seemed to go away. Throughout the month, we made several trips to the pediatrician to make sure everything was okay. On our final visit to the pediatrician, on October 26th, 2015- Alyks was given several breathing treatments to try to help break up her mucus. None of the treatments had worked well enough to send her home, so we were sent directly to Nationwide Children’s Hospital to get further evaluations and observation.

Once we were there, since she wasn’t wanting to fully eat or drink like she should have, we were admitted for further monitoring, within hours, we were being sent to the ICU to have closer observations on Alyks. Before we were relocated to the ICU floor, Alyks’ diaper was changed and it was noticed that there were tiny pin point bruising ALL over her behind, her legs, her belly, it was everywhere. When the Dr’s came in to observe, more tests were run. With the symptoms that were presented, the Dr’s were 99% sure what her diagnosis was, but could not guarantee until results came back.

Hours later, the results and confirmation came in and we were told the most devastating news for any parent to hear, “Your daughter has Cancer- Leukemia”.

Alyks spent one week sedated while receiving dialysis and chemotherapy before being able to leave the ICU and transferred to the oncology floor. Alyks was the strongest little girl I had ever met, going through 7 different rounds of chemotherapy. However, her Leukemia had other plans for her. Her original diagnosis was ALL, while being treated on Chemotherapy, she was diagnosed with a second for of Leukemia- AML which caused a tumor to grow on her forehead (which was later removed). Throughout her 7 rounds of Chemotherapy, Alyks’ Leukemia mutated from ALL to AML- to MLL- until she was considered refractory and there were no more options or trials that would work for her form of cancer. Even with this monster inside her body, you would have never known. Alyks was always smiling, laughing, and enjoying every minute she got to spend with her family, especially her two older sisters. After spending 7 months inpatient at NCH, Alyks won her battle on April 18th, 2016 when she gained her angel wings in her mothers arms around 4:05pm.

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1
  • Name: Alyks Michelle D.Alyks Michelle Daigle
  • Condition(s): Cancer
  • Age at Treatment: 4 months old

Alyks was born to be a fighter. She was born 7.5 weeks early, however was healthy upon birth and only spent 13 days in the NICU.  Around the age of 3 months old, we noticed she had what we thought was a cold, that just never seemed to go away. Throughout the month, we made several trips to the pediatrician to make sure everything was okay. On our final visit to the pediatrician, on October 26th, 2015- Alyks was given several breathing treatments to try to help break up her mucus. None of the treatments had worked well enough to send her home, so we were sent directly to Nationwide Children’s Hospital to get further evaluations and observation.

Once we were there, since she wasn’t wanting to fully eat or drink like she should have, we were admitted for further monitoring, within hours, we were being sent to the ICU to have closer observations on Alyks. Before we were relocated to the ICU floor, Alyks’ diaper was changed and it was noticed that there were tiny pin point bruising ALL over her behind, her legs, her belly, it was everywhere. When the Dr’s came in to observe, more tests were run. With the symptoms that were presented, the Dr’s were 99% sure what her diagnosis was, but could not guarantee until results came back.

Hours later, the results and confirmation came in and we were told the most devastating news for any parent to hear, “Your daughter has Cancer- Leukemia”.

Alyks spent one week sedated while receiving dialysis and chemotherapy before being able to leave the ICU and transferred to the oncology floor. Alyks was the strongest little girl I had ever met, going through 7 different rounds of chemotherapy. However, her Leukemia had other plans for her. Her original diagnosis was ALL, while being treated on Chemotherapy, she was diagnosed with a second for of Leukemia- AML which caused a tumor to grow on her forehead (which was later removed). Throughout her 7 rounds of Chemotherapy, Alyks’ Leukemia mutated from ALL to AML- to MLL- until she was considered refractory and there were no more options or trials that would work for her form of cancer. Even with this monster inside her body, you would have never known. Alyks was always smiling, laughing, and enjoying every minute she got to spend with her family, especially her two older sisters. After spending 7 months inpatient at NCH, Alyks won her battle on April 18th, 2016 when she gained her angel wings in her mothers arms around 4:05pm.

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