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Our Kids - Meet Kaitlyn

Kaitlyn, 4, acute lymphoblastic leukemia

When it comes to taking care of their dolls, Kaitlyn and her twin sister Samantha, 4, are meticulous. They hug their dolls, they comfort them, they give them medicine and they speak to them with sophisticated medical terminology. They even give their dolls chemotherapy. Kaitlyn and Samantha think about medicine a lot. It’s one of the ways they’ve learned to cope with Kaitlyn’s diagnosis of cancer, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a year ago this month.

Kaitlyn’s circle of care at SickKids is a great support to her family, but Kaitlyn herself is the best source of comfort during the most difficult parts of her treatment. She is always in good spirits, enjoys coming to clinic visits and even found humour in losing her hair as a side effect of the chemotherapy. No matter how tough things sometimes become, her sweet smile always manages to make an appearance.

Kaitlyn’s courageous attitude is inspirational to those around her. Earlier this year, she was having trouble swallowing her required liquid antibiotics and chemotherapy. A Child Life Specialist at SickKids suggested that she learn to swallow pills instead. Being barely 4 years old, Kaitlyn surprised everyone by first swallowing cake sprinkles, then Nerds candies and then mini M&Ms. She now swallows her pills with ease.

Kaitlyn is now in the maintenance stage of her treatment. Over the past year, she has received many rounds of chemotherapy. In maintenance, she will be able to take chemotherapy pills, at home, with fewer visits to SickKids. This will be a great relief to her parents as Kaitlyn and Samantha will begin senior kindergarten in September. There they can continue to exercise their medical skills by providing care for an entirely new set of classroom dolls and educating their new classmates about cancer.

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