Fight Like a Girl
Having spent many years with teenagers in the role of teacher, I have to admit I like them. One moment they are frustrated (with their peers and the world) and emotional about it, and the next they are wise (beyond their years) and witty. Much can be learned from these young adults . . . if we would take the time and really listen to them.
I am honored to know and share the story of a sixteen year old girl who wears the term overcomer well.
During her interview, I hear her frustration with her peers, the emotional side of having a serious medical diagnosis, the wisdom that comes from going through years of illness, and even sharing several witty comments regarding losing her hair three times. She is your normal teenager in every way, but one.
Taylor* was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia when she was three years old.
* Her real name, used with permission.
Thousands of Red Spots
At three years old, Taylor’s mother became concerned when she experienced flu-like symptoms for several days without any relief. A diagnosis of an ear infection and a round of antibiotics were given. The antibiotics did nothing to treat the symptoms, so they returned to the doctor. During the exam, her mother mentioned seeing three red dots near her collarbone. The doctor was uncertain what was causing the spots, so he ordered a series of tests.
Later that day, Taylor was covered in thousands of red dots. The red dots (called petechiae) were red blood cells bursting under her skin. Those red dots meant she was bleeding internally.
The doctor immediately sent her to Scottish Rite Hospital in Atlanta. Blood work was taken, and a diagnosis was given that day. Her doctor told her mother, “If you had not brought her in today, she would have died from loss of blood. She only has one-third of her normal blood.”
Fight Like a Girl
She was immediately admitted into the hospital and started on chemotherapy. A bone marrow aspiration revealed she had 100% leukemia in her bone marrow. Even at such a young age, Taylor began to “fight childhood cancer like a girl.” Her remission came after thirty-seven days of treatment. (Fight like a girl is one of the themes for childhood cancer.)
She spent two hundred and thirty days in the hospital over the course of the next two and a half years. Some of those days were for treatments and some were to treat various sicknesses. The chemotherapy wrecked her immune system, setting her up to easily get sick from fevers and pneumonia.
A year after her diagnosis, the doctors told her parents she had relapsed and her body was so weak they weren’t sure she’d recover. Thankfully, it wasn’t another bout with cancer. Instead, it was bacterial meningitis, and she did recover.
Taylor was still undergoing treatments when she started Kindergarten. Bald and the smallest kid in the class, she could tell the other kids didn’t understand. Neither did the adults. Taylor remembers an unkind adult at the grocery store asking her mom, “Why is your boy wearing a dress?”
She finished her treatments when she was six years old. “In elementary school, I was treated like a complete outcast, ” Taylor remembers. “Because the world thinks different is wrong, the kids wanted nothing to do with me since I wasn’t like them. I sat at the lunch table by myself and sat with the teachers at recess instead of playing with the other kids.” It was during her years in elementary school that Taylor lost her hair three different times.
Her “Cure Date”
In May of 2008, when Taylor was eight years old, she was given her cure date. This means she had passed the five year mark from the beginning of her treatments. She was officially cured. Taylor and her family celebrated!
The chemotherapy treatments did kill the cancer, but Taylor still experiences some effects from it:
- Her heart is not growing in proportion to the rest of her body due to a shortening faction/value.
- She experiences some scoliosis because the tendons in her legs didn’t grow.
- She is unable to participate in sports because of how strenuous it would be on her body.
- She is legally blind due to the lenses in her eyes not being able to focus.
- She experiences Chemo brain – a mental cloudiness (as a result of chemotherapy) that makes it difficult to concentrate, causes memory lapses, and causes her to process things at a slower rate.
Hard to Handle
Feeling sad and lonely became part of Taylor’s world, except when she was with her family. “Being with my peers was so hard for me to handle emotionally, because I knew I couldn’t be like them. And that’s all I wanted.”
Asking the questions “Why me?” and “Why can’t I be normal?” continued into her middle school years. Some of the students began bullying her because she had emotionally shut down and didn’t talk to anyone. To cope with her illness and her feelings, Taylor began learning to play the guitar and singing.
In 9th grade, she began writing songs about her illness, the feelings she had about it, and the lessons she’s learned from it.
I Am Blessed
Taylor’s overcomer spirit is best displayed by her positive attitude: “Instead of asking why me anymore, I ask why was I blessed with this gift? My journey with leukemia has made me realize I am blessed and how short life really is.”
Taylor decided to finish high school by taking on line classes, which gives her time to do what she loves: volunteer. Curing Kids Cancer is a charity that is near to her heart. She helps them raise money for cancer research by speaking at fundraising dinners and speaking to high school students about appreciating life and realizing they are not invincible.
Taylor also enjoys volunteering at food banks, foster homes, and church camps. “I am so blessed to be alive. Volunteering is a way for me to give back, because so many people have helped me.” She dreams of becoming a Child Life Specialist in Child Oncology, so she can be the one to encourage and lift the spirits of children who are fighting cancer like she did.
A young man asked Taylor to her first prom at the end of last school year. I’m sharing her prom picture, because I want each of you to see the beautiful young lady this overcomer is today!
Share With Me: Instead of asking a question this time, I’m going to ask for your help. September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. I was surprised to learn that only 2% of all money raised for cancer research goes toward childhood cancer research. Will you consider donating to Curing Kids Cancer to help with childhood cancer research in honor of Taylor Babcock?
Melony – You were one of my very first friends in Georgia oh…not so long ago! 🙂 Thank you for you (and your writings) and sharing Taylor’s story. You are so right that we need to listen more to our teens. They all have a story to share and a lessons we can learn from.
Pam,
It was such a pleasure to spend time with Taylor. Her story needs to be shared with many. She has learned so much about life in her young years, and her wisdom about what is important in life can be a lesson for all of us.
I am happy to read the wonderful story you put together regarding Taylor. Excellent work! I haven’t seen or heard much about you in many, many years and only hope life has been good to you. Thanks again, Rob
Thanks for reading Taylor’s story. Hope you will pass the word along to the women in your life to read her story and the other stories I’ve shared. Take care!
Enjoyed, enjoyed and enjoyed. What a Beautiful young women.
I am so glad you shared this story that so many can relate to-my husband being one. He has a form of leukemia where his blood platelets are very low, and I, along with others, are inspired by his positive attitude. I appreciate Taylor’s fighting spirit and her ability to share her positive outlook with others. Thanks, Melony, for your good work!
Taylor certainly has a fighting spirit and a positive attitude!
As a pediatric nurse and now pediatric nurse practitioner there is nothing more daunting than child hood cancer. I don’t think most people realize that the diagnosis of cancer in childhood means that the child’s life comes to a SCREECHING halt. Life that revolved around school, birthday parties, and learning to ride a bike all stops and the focus becomes FIGHTING. It’s all about doctors appointments, treatments, blood counts and just staying ALIVE. Same for the parents, too. To have FOUGHT and WON is not something most adults can get-let alone most teenagers. As teenagers are pretty self centered it does not surprise me that many of Taylor’s friends didn’t get it. But instead of having a bitter pity party-THIS girl took her gift of another shot at life and is using it. A maturity that many adults do not possess. We are all blessed to be alive-took me YEARS to get this. And she gets it now. She will bless many others-of that I have no doubt.
Your summary of what Taylor and many other children go through is so on target with what Taylor shared with me. Taylor does GET IT, and that impresses me so much! I agree she will bless many lives.
Thanks Shannon for your kind words, but although Taylor is my HERO, the pediatric nurses that took such great care of her are right up there, too! You included! Keep up the great work nurses offer patients and parents alike. Nurses play a very significant role in making the journey easier. Thanks for all you do. 🙂
and can I add….I can not even begin to imagine the terror and agony her parents had to have suffered through. I have three kids and three times a day my heart leaves this house and goes out into the world…and that is terrifying enough…
She has strong and supportive parents, as well as some great brothers and sister! It has been a team effort.
Taylor, You truly are an inspiration. The servant’s heart is the strongest heart there is! God specifically chose you to do His work. WOW! Thank you for sharing your precious gift with the rest of us <3
Taylor, what a beautiful young woman you are! You have taken your diagnosis and turned it into a positive! I can see in your eyes, the spirit of a fighter! There is something to be said of a cancer diagnosis, it changes you for better or for bitter! You have to choose better and it is a choice you have to make every day.I admire that you are giving back to other children with a cancer diagnosis. You may not see what a difference you are making in the lives of these children, however, the money you raise will touch many lives!
I pray that God bless you as continue on your mission to become a oncology specialist! Healthcare definitely needs caring people like you! May all your dreams come true, sweet girl!
Taylor, you are an amazing girl. God has blessed us with you. I pray that you have a full life and are able to fulfill all your dreams. You are as beautiful as you are courageous. Melony, I had no idea that so little money is spent on childhood research. Thank you Taylor and Melony for sharing this breath taking story with us.
Hi Taylor,
Thank you for sharing your story!
Like you I have been through this battle with cancer. In 2003 I went through the Chemo and radiation, two major surgeries and a divorce in 2004 after 29 years, not by choice.
I asked the same question Why Me? Why the cancer, why the divorce? Why did I have to go through all of this? Yet in the midst of all of it, the Lord made it known that He was with me.
One of the things to happen to me as I was going through radiation treatment, as I was sitting, waiting for my turn, a young child, maybe five or six years old, waiting also for treatment, came over to me, simply laid her hand on mine and simply said, “It’s going to be all right!” For me, it was the Father speaking to me, that He was there and it’s going to be ok!
During the chemo and radiation, the surgeries, and the many days spent in the hospital, I had many opportunities to reach out and to touch others, to share hope, both to young and old and to be encouraged myself. That I was to focus on others and that brought healing to me also.
I am on full disability, can’t do some of things I used to, but I can do what I have been called to, to write, to exhort, to encourage others on this path called life, to be an encouragement to others, to share that we are never without hope.
The writing, the columns, the website, and the Coffee Cup Ministry, a ministry of hanging out in coffee shops was born. It is a ministry of listening, of exhorting and encouraging others, to let them know we are not without hope. I have the opportunity to encourage the writers, the musicians, etc in their gifting’s and talents!
I am blessed, I have three awesome children and three great grand kids. They have seen that the events of the last ten years have made me stronger, that the Lord has used all of it. That what was meant to destroy me, did not.
Each day is a gift and opportunity to start fresh and see what is in store for that day. That it is one day at a time, a day to touch others with hope.
Thank you for sharing your story, for the work that you do with Curing Kids Cancer and for sharing with high school students about appreciating life.
I will be praying for you as you continue your volunteering and as you pursue the dream of becoming a Child Life Specialist in Child Oncology. Indeed you would be able to encourage and lift up other children who are fighting cancer. Like me, you will be a able to share, because you have been there and you will be speaking from your heart, not theory.
I will be lifting you in prayer daily Taylor, as well as your family. Again thank you for sharing your story!
Blessings and prayers,
Paul