Hattie

Hattie Ann was born 6-26-2017. 

She is the beautiful daughter of  Melissa & John Halter. Hattie has been diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. She is receiving treatment at the East Tennessee Children's Hospital.

UPDATE: April 21, 2018,

On April 19, Hattie finished her last dose of chemo for round 1. She is experiencing the side effects from the chemo so they are taking it one day at a time. Hattie is strong and continues to fight!

UPDATE: May 4, 2018, 

Hattie was released to go home for the weekend. Melissa and John will be spending much needed special time at home with Hattie. They return Monday for her bone marrow aspirate and spinal tap, along with normal blood work to determine whether or not she has gone into remission. Depending on results and her levels, she should begin her second round of chemo starting one day next week. Please continue the Prayers that she has gone into remission and that the meds are able to keep the leukemia cells from returning. 

UPDATE May 7, 2018,

Hattie is out of her tests and doing well. Her numbers were not high enough to start chemo today so back to the hospital on Wednesday for round 2 of chemo. They will know next week the results from today's tests. Tomorrow...Zoo Day! Hattie gets to go to the zoo before next round!

UPDATE May 9, 

Hattie and family are still home enjoying time with Hattie and also enjoyed a zoo day on Tuesday with family. We are waiting on official blood-work and examination to determine remission and based on the results, they will determine the next chemo treatment. Hattie is in great spirits and enjoying time at home.

UPDATE: May 10.

Hattie is in REMISSION! Praise the Lord! This is an amazing day! She begins Round 2 of chemo today and will be hospitalized. She still has a long journey of chemo ahead, so prayers for                few side effects and a speedy recovery. Hattie is on her way to beating Leukemia! Love to all!!

Update May 17:

Hattie completed her second round of chemo. They will wait for response to treatment and the doctor will let them know the next step. At this time, she will stay in the hospital and allow time for her numbers to get back to normal. This is so that medical personnel are available 24/7. She is a fighter and is doing well despite the chemo.

 UPDATE: 5/31/18

Hattie gets to go home for a week or so. She will have her bone marrow aspirate June 7 to determine whether or not she is still in remission. Once they have the results, she will begin round three of chemo. She continues to fight and persevere and is staying strong! She is a warrior!

Update: June 9

Hattie had a birthday party with family and friends while out of the hospital. She even rode a real life unicorn!Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes and gifts!

Update: June 11

Hattie continues to be in remission. She will begin Round 3 of chemo tomorrow, 

Update on June 12:

Hatties third round chemo started June 12. It  was her first high dose round. She will remain in the hospital again for about a month for observation while her numbers drop and come up again. At the end of this round another bone marrow aspirate will be done and those results, along with other genetic factors, will determine her next step. She continues to do as well as she can during this time.

Hattie turned 1 on June 26!

UPDATE: July 12

Hattie was able to go home on July 7 for a few days and found out today (July 12) that she is still in remission. Praise the Lord! She will go back on Tuesday, July 17 to begin her fourth round of chemo. Praying for few side effects and continued remission.

UPDATE July 25:

Childhood Cancer is horrible and I have nothing happy to relay to you. Treatments and tests are happening all the time and it will be impossible for me to explain what all is going on. But ..... basically Hattie has a high risk refractory AML. Hard to treat. Resistant to treatment. The way her cancer presents is almost impossible to determine true remission. She is supposed to start her fourth round of chemo next week, but that has been delayed twice for different reasons, so we never know. She may have one or two more rounds of chemo and then a bone marrow transplant, which was the last thing we wanted. That's what we know now. It could change. It probably will change. I do appreciate the thoughts and prayers and love you have given to us and especially Hattie. She has a long journey ahead. She is doing well, considering, and continues to show us dailey what a true fighter and brave little girl that she is. I believe in miracles and prayer and that is what she is going to need to beat this. Sorry it's not more positive news. It's our reality.

June 31 UPDATE:

Hattie will begin her 4th round of chemo to try to get her into remission. The hopes are that she will be able to go into remission and will be able to stay there so she can get a bone marrow transplant. Please continue to pray for few side effects and positive results.

August 11 update.:

Hattie is doing well considering. She has been struggling wit throwing up and keeping her food down and she has had a few fevers as well. This has been the toughest round for her so far. Her numbers have dropped so we are waiting for them to recover. She is still scheduled to have her marrow tested on day 29.

UPDATE: August 26

Hattie is home from the hospital resting and enjoying time with family as her immune system builds itself back up. She will know more about the next steps, dates of testing and date of transplant soon and we will update. Thanks.

Sept. 14 UPDATE: 

Hattie has been recovering at home awaiting  her bone marrow transplant. As of now, we head to Nashville on Sept.24 to be admitted and the pre transplant prep will begin on September 25. The transplant itself will be on October 2. The radiation and transplant come with harsh side effects., but we pray that she gets them in in the least possible amounts. possible. Hattie has a long, harsh fight ahead, but she will give it her all. Please continue to  pray for her strength through this next journey. Thank you.

Update: 9-24

Hattie was admitted to Tri Star in Nashville. She will do 4 days of radiation twice daily and 2 days of Chemo. Wear your Hattie Shirt, Hattie wrist band or orange on October 2 to show your love and support for Hattie on her transplant day!

UPDATE: October 4

Hattie completed all of her radiation and chemo and had her transplant October 2. The next three weeks are detrimental with how she responds to the donor cells. She will continue to have side effects and need pain management and many medications to help her through this process. We will give the next update in a few weeks. Thank you for wearing orange and for loving and praying for Hattie!

Oct. 7 update. 

Hattie is doing well considering. She is experiencing some painful mucositis but it’s being helped with pain medication. She has moments where she wants to play and take walks and we are thankful for these moments. She isn’t talking and smiling much and her personality not shining through but we pray for all of that to shine back through in a few weeks.

Update October 19:

Hattie was moved to PICU on Wednesday night. She was in a lot of pain. She has a virus that has been causing a lot of inflammation in her little body. The inflammation has led to other organ issues. Her pain is controlled and she is as comfortable as she can be. She was placed on a ventilator today to help her body heal and rest. 

We just ask that all our family and friends pray for Hattie. Please pray for the meds to start working, Her organs to recover and inflammation to subside. Please pray that God’s presence is constantly filling Hattie and Mommy and daddy with his love, grace, and healing.

UPDATE: October 31

Hattie has to be sedated later to get her drain replaced so we dressed her up early this morning for Halloween as Dobby. We still aren’t out of the woods but we are enjoying time in our regular room. She still has a ton of fluid to shed and her organs are continuing to heal. One day at a time. Please continue to pray for comfort and complete healing for Hattie. 

Update November 19:

After 56 days, 9 in PICU, 3 on a ventilator, Hattie has been released and she has graduated to the medical housing in Nashville. Hallelujah! 15% percent of our year spent in the hospital in just one stay for her transplant. Our car was so packed, Daddy had to take a scooter 😂. I am SO THANKFUL for this day! I thank God she made it out! We will have clinic visits non stop to make sure she continues to do well. Please continue to pray for my precious girl. Pray that the skanky cancer stays away and the transplant does it’s job. One day at a time. Thanks for all the love and prayers. Keep ‘em coming!

Update: December 31. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
We found out that Hattie’s marrow is MRD negative for cancer. Minimal Residual Disease. Her skin is showing no visible signs of it either. The test is not 100 percent accurate, so it does not mean that her body is clear of cancer, it means no cancer cells were detected in the marrow that was collected. That’s why AML is so scary. This is still good news! We know she went in to transplant high risk and with refractory AML. We just pray harder that the transplant does it’s job and her new immune system recognizes the cancer cells as foreign and kills the rest of them that may be left. She also tested 100 percent donor blood which means none of her blood was detected in the sample that they took. This is also good news. Thank you to the nice 29 year old male that was put to sleep and got stuck a bunch of times in his lower back to donate his marrow to a 16 month old baby to save her life. Her AML presented originally mostly in the skin so we hope that the radiation was able to kill the remaining cancer in her skin as well. This was her biggest concern and where the refractory AML mostly was. The radiation also comes with the harshest side effects. Once we are able to wean her off the immune suppression drugs we Pray that her new immune system takes over her body and completely heals her. Please continue to pray for few side effects, short and long term, and for the cancer to never come back. We leave this year in remission and enter the new year with a ton of fight left in us. We can beat it. Hattie can beat it. She is the hero and the strongest girl on this planet! She has gone through more crap in 18 months than people do in an entire lifetime. Tonight we celebrate her. Our biggest gift. Thank you LORD for the miracle that she is and for the miracles that you have blessed upon her for her to feel better and to get better. Thank you Lord for the Good News! Thank you everyone for your love and prayers. Keep them coming. She still has a long way to go! Never give up hope. The fight is still going! Hope 4 Hattie! Thank you Hattie’s Herd! We love you! Good bye 2018! 2019 is the year of healing. Happy New Year!

Melissa & John

UPDATE: March 20, 2019

We got Hattie's blood work results today. She is still doing well! God is good! I'm so thankful. Please continue to pray for continued remission for our girl. Thank you all so much for every single thought and prayer. She has come so far from being on a ventilator in the PICU. She is resilient. God has been so good to us. She still has a long way to go so keep the prayers coming! #hope4hattie

UPDATE: August 1

Hattie had a biopsy of a bump on he foot, The Results were benign. It was a hemangioma. Thank God.

UPDATE: August 15

Hattie continues to go bi weekly to the clinic for bloodworm. She continues to go weekly to feeding therapy.. She is still in remission and we pray she stays that way. We will go to Nashville in October for her 0ne year post transplant work up. 

September 28-29 is her tournament for Bring the Thunder Childhood Cancer in Knoxville.

Update: October 4

Hattie went to Nashville for her oner year post bone marrow transplant work up. The reiki scale in On October 7. She is still in remission and 100% donor cells. 

Thank you everyone for your continued prayers. She still has a fight ahead of her, so keep them coming!

Update: October 17

It’s a long one, y’all. What a long, amazing, blessed, challenging, scary, fulfilling, ever changing, roller coaster this last year has been. We are on our way to ETCH for Hatties’s port removal. I have never been more thankful than I am for this past year and for my baby girl. What a story she has to tell. She has no idea what she has endured and no idea how strong she is. She has no idea an entire community and then some came to bat for her. I am full of emotions today as Port removal is one step closer to being a “normal” kid. The smallest things like going to the library and the pumpkin patch this last week has brought me to tears to see her in a normal environment. To each and every person that had prayed for Hattie, sent us things for her, money, gift cards, food, positive texts and calls, and fund raisers, thank you. Please continue to pray, as her battle is never over. Pray for continued remission and few long lasting side effects. Childhood cancer is forever. The cancer may be gone but the effects still last. Always have Hope 4 Hattie. If you would like, Please leave a comment for Hattie because I’m going to make a memory book for her and want this day to be a part of it. If you have pictures supporting her shirts or orange or unicorns feel free to add those as well! Love you all! Melissa, John and Hattie
Also Grangie and Grandad, GiGi and Grumps and G-Daddy and DiDi. #hope4hattie 🙏🏻🦄🎗🧡👧🏼

UPDATE:1-22-2020

Hattie is still 100% Donor!!!! Please don't stop praying! We are so thankful everyday! Now we are prepping for our trip to Disney World in February!!

UPDATE: Feb, 2020

Hattie was able to go to Disney World and celebrate life! Didi and G-Daddy took her on a trip to remember. Hattie had a blast!

UPDATE: APRIL, 2020

Hattie is still 100% donor! We are so thankful. Thank you all for continued love and prayers!

UPDATE:June, 2020

Hattie will be 3 on June 26! The time is flying by for our Miracle Girl. We continue to welcome the love and the prayers and are so hopeful that she continues to heal and stay cancer free!

Update: August, 2020

Prayers answered. Hattie had her first day of pre-K and absolutely loved it! There was a time we were not sure she would have a first day of school and we are so very thankful she is here with us to have that experience!

Also coming in 2021, Hattie is gaining a baby sister or brother!❤️

UPDATE: November 2020

Happy ReBirthday! Hattie is still in remission and had a great two year check up with Dr. Frangoul! Thank you everyone for your continued prayers! We were also able to meet her donor virtually! This has been an unimaginable experience. Her donor, Jack is from the UK and he and his family have been amazing to get to know and be a part of our lives!

UPDATE: March 2021

Hattie continues to be in remission and also welcomed a baby brother this month! She welcomed Job into the family, not so lovingly at first, but he has grown on her!

Update: June 2021

Hattie had oral Surgery to hopefully help her eating. She did well with surgery and has already begun to show progress. She can chew and swallow bites of crackers right now and will continue to work!

Hattie turned 4 years old on June 26, 2021! So hard to believe! She is finally in panties and continues to work on using the potty! Good news for us all! We have a transplant follow up in July!

Keep on Hoping for Hattie!

Update: October 2021

Hattie celebrated 3 years post bone marrow transplant on October 2, 2021. We were able to celebrate from afar with Jack, her donor. All of her October tests came back normal and still 100 % Jack! She will now go every 3 months for check ups! 

Thank you all for your continued love and prayers. Keep them coming!

2023

This year Hattie will celebrate 5 years remission. We are planning to celebrate with a trip to Disney World! Hattie welcomed baby brother number 2, Harvey, in February so we are now a family of 5. She is thriving socially and academically in Kindergarten and loves school. We still see Drs. Frangoul and Malik alternating every 6 months, which is crazy! Hattie also sees Dr. Wadley for her vision and Dr. Tapiador for her endocrinology challenges from treatment. We are thankful for her team! We are still so blessed with the love and prayers for our girl and for our family and we love all of Hattie’s Herd!