Following Experimental Treatment, 4-Year Old Girl's Cancer In Remission
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DALLAS (CBSDFW) - Kaitlyn Johnson can now once again play like any other four year old. Just one month after receiving an experimental treatment for leukemia, doctors say her cancer is in remission.
Kaitlyn's mother Mandy says, "A big relief. The moment they called and told us that she was in remission, you feel like this weight has just been lifted off you. To have her here, seeing her enjoying life and being a child and nothing to be hooked up to an I-V pole and laying in bed and saying she hurts when there's nothing I can do to take it away."
Kaitlyn's treatment was at Children's Hospital in Philadelphia. And just this week, neighbors welcomed her and her parents back home to Royse City.
Kaitlyn's father James says it was, "Emotionally overwhelming." Mandy Johnson agrees, "Yes, very overwhelming and not expected at all. And to see her smile was just great."
Dr. Ted Laetsch leads the oncology experimental therapies program at Children's Medical Center in Dallas.
He says chemotherapy didn't work for Kaitlyn. So instead of using medicine to attack her cancer, doctors in Philadelphia essentially infected her immune cells with a virus, allowing them to attack the leukemia.
Dr. Laetsch says, "It works very, very quickly. It's just as if you're body had an infection, your body tries to get rid of that infection as fast as it can. She looks great and it's amazing to see how happy and well she looks."
He says Children's Medical Center in Dallas will offer that same treatment later this year.
Kaitlyn was first diagnosed with leukemia in November, 2011, when she was just 18 months old. After chemotherapy, her cancer was declared in remission in March, 2012. But unfortunately, last July, her cancer came back.
Kaitlyn's dad says, "It was our worst day relived all over again because we heard that cancer word again."
While the Johnsons do everything they can for Kaitlyn, it is she who keeps them going. "She is our rock. She keeps us strong because she is always smiling", said Mandy Johnson.
Now, they are planning a big party for Kaitlyn's birthday later this month. They are hoping the cancer will never return.
If it doesn't come back after five years, doctors say they will consider the cancer cured.
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