Meet Haven, a 4-year-old B-Cell ALL warrior. 

A week before Haven’s fourth birthday, Haven’s cancer journey began. What should have been a day of birthday plans turned into hospital rooms and a port placement surgery. Haven’s symptoms began with a suspected virus, then led to stomach bug symptoms. In the third week, she was extremely pale, lethargic and her parents knew something was wrong. Haven has a history of hypothyroidism, so a routine endocrinologist appointment was moved up in  hopes to figure out what was going on. 

Skyler Wells, Haven’s mother, remembers thinking, “I felt like nobody was listening to us and we knew something was wrong with our baby. She was a different child.”

The endocrinologist did many tests and called the family the next day saying that there was thyroid elevation in her results. A few moments later, they received a call that no parent wants to receive. 

“We have got her labs back and we need you to come to hematology/oncology as soon as you can bring a bag with you for an overnight stay.”

Initially, Haven was hospitalized for a little over three weeks which forced her to be away from her father and two siblings, Mason and Hadley. Because of her downs syndrome, Haven was at a higher risk of complications with leukemia treatments.

“I thought being told that she had down syndrome for the very first time when she was born was hard but hearing that your child has cancer is a slap in the face. What could I have done to prevent it? What have we done wrong? Why us? Why does my daughter have to go through this?”

Fast forward to six months after treatment started, Haven is considered to be in remission. 

Haven was featured as an ambassador at the Grand Ole Opry Chili Cook-Off in Nashville, TN. She and her family were able to attend the employee chili cook-off, tour the facility, and watch the show! Read about the experience and the inspiring fundraiser here.