The story of one toddler’s amazing journey to overcome cancer has been warming hearts across the internet as she celebrates being declared cancer-free.
Having a loved one diagnosed with cancer is never easy.
With roughly 38.4% of men and women likely to be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives, according to the National Cancer Institute , most of us have had a family member battle with this terrible illness.
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Sometimes, it can threaten those we least expect.
Most toddlers spend their time exploring this new world that they have found themselves in, playing with toys, and generally seeing how much food they can cover themselves with at meal times. However, some toddlers sadly face terrible challenges.
One of these toddlers was Molly Hughes.
21-month-old Molly Hughes was previously diagnosed with stage-4 cancer. Specifically, she was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, which is a type of cancer that develops from immature nerve cells in the body.
However, things are now starting to look up for little Molly.
Molly has been through a wide variety of treatments and surgeries.
In order to combat the cancer, little Molly went through 15 months of intensive treatment.
The treatment included chemotherapy, immunotherapy, stem cell transplants, surgeries, and radiation. This meant that Molly and her family spent approximately 130 nights in the hospital over this time period, according to CNN .
Thankfully, Molly is now showing no signs of the disease!
The news that Molly will be able to finally start living a normal toddler life came as fantastic news to her family, who were beyond relieved to hear the news.
“We were just so relieved. She’s happy and playful and just doing normal things again, but we still have to keep our guard up,” Molly’s mother told CNN.
Molly will still have to be monitored closely to make sure she doesn’t relapse.
Sadly, the type of cancer that Molly was suffering from has a high chance of returning, which means that Molly will have to go for tests moderately frequently to make sure she is keeping healthy.
However, for the time being, her family is over the moon to see her happy and healthy.
Molly’s treatment was incredibly harsh on her body, according to her mother.
According to the NHS , “The outlook for neuroblastoma varies considerably, and is generally better for younger children whose cancer has not spread.”
For Molly, the cancer had spread throughout much of her body. Despite this, she still managed to beat the odds!
“We’re just thankful that she made it through all that treatment. It was tough. She got really, really sick. The treatments are just so harsh on [children’s] bodies,” Molly’s mother continued.
Molly and her family are now looking forward to a bright future!
With Molly now free of her treatments and able to start enjoying her toddler life more, her family are looking forward to being able to spend more time with her and take her swimming, which she had previously not been able to do!
h/t: CNN