The cost of caring for a child with cancer is immense. The diagnosis, hospital stays, follow-up appointments and even remission has created a huge financial hole for my family. Yes, remission is a gift, but it comes with a huge cost. The emotional drain that comes with a pediatric cancer diagnosis is even worse.

Here is the story of my daughter, Alex.

Our funny, creative, and sweet Alex was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) on November 4, 2009 at the age of 9.

Alex was rushed by ambulance to the Children's Hospital Colorado main campus for care. What we thought was possibly a virus that had made her so ill, became something far worse.

While we still were still waiting on a diagnosis, Alex's condition continued to worsen rapidly. She was placed on life support (ECMO) which became her lifeline, supporting both her heart and lungs. While on life support, she was diagnosed with pneumonia (ARDS), a staph infection, sepsis, kidney failure and worst of all Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

Alex remained on long-term life support for 17 days and a ventilator for 22 days.

Despite all the factors working against her, the hand of God and the amazing work of the incredible staff, saved her life.

Alex began her difficult treatment regimen during this first hospital stay. They had to change her treatment from the typical course because she was so ill that the medications would have killed her. Later, during her treatment (May 2020) she spent a week in the hospital, and yet another night in the PICU, because of a fever, low blood counts and yet again, sepsis.

Throughout all of these setbacks, Alex remained her silly, spunky self. She was know as a "badass" by many of the nurses because she never complained about her course of treatment and all of the awful things that came with it.

On January 24, 2022 Alex took her last chemo pill. We celebrated with a gathering of her friends for a dance party.

February 4, 2022 marked the BIG celebration with her hospital staff to celebrate the end of treatment. She got to bang on a gong in celebration! She had been diagnosed with COVID earlier in the month, and still tested positive, so she was unable to ring the bell at this time because it is in a common area in the hospital. But, she got to ring the bell in March 2022 and it was just as cool.

She still deals with some after-affects of the medical interventions and cancer treatment. She has seen physical therapy a bunch of times for various reasons that were caused by one of the life support cannulas. At one point they thought she might lose her leg, but they were able to save it. Physical therapy has been helping her walk correctly with her drop foot and nerve damage, as it was causing her severe knee pain and discomfort.

She has experienced some trouble with her memory, and other learning issues, which is not surprising because of all the medical interventions and chemo she received. She is on an IEP at school to help her with these things.

Alex is now 15 and is doing extremely well. She still doesn't let anything stop her. She loves skiing, biking, crocheting, coffee, macha, Taylor Swift, and hanging out with her friends.

As a family, we have volunteered at the Courage Classic bicycle ride benefiting Children's Hospital Colorado. We have ridden in it for the last three years and have raised thousands of dollars, as a family, for the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at Children's Hospital. We love being a part of this event and helping families that have unfortunately found themselves in a similar situation.

As a mom of a cancer warrior, I spend quite a bit of time thinking about how our lives have been affected by Alex's diagnosis. What I have realized about cancer is that it never truly goes away. You never truly get that big sign of relief where you think to yourself "It's over". It's never over.

As a mother, I am tired. I don't just fear for the normal things like her driving a car. I fear for a relapse, a new diagnosis related to the cancer diagnosis, school struggles, fertility troubles later in life and the list goes on and on.

The truth is pediatric cancer treatments are so hard on the kids bodies. Alex has been to countless follow-up appointments, had various tests performed, and receives physical therapy. Basically, were are making sure the cancer hasn't come back and also checking to see if the chemo treatments haven't further destroyed her body.

Not only is this hard on her body, it is also so hard on our finances. When we saw the statement from her first hospital stay in 2019, when she was diagnosed, and it was $2.2 Million, we were blown away. We owed close to $106,000 out-of-pocket, even with health insurance. We were very fortunate to have donations that helped relieve us from some of this financial burden.

Now with every appointment or test given, the amount we owe keeps rising. Sadly, there seems to be no end in sight to the financial responsibility we continue to carry. She has been out of treatment for almost 4 years, and we are still paying thousands of dollars each year. It is money well spent, but it has taken a toll on our finances.

The cost of living, in general, is so high. Besides the medical bills we can't afford, we also have auto repairs largely due to all the miles we put on the vehicle going to and from the hospital for hospital stays and appointments. We are unable to complete the $1,400 repair at this time.

We also have two other children who are 13 and 11 years old. We need to be able to take care of their general medical needs as well. They have an interest in playing basketball , wrestling and track. We decided to allow them to play sports, even though the cost has set us back even more. As a parent who loves them deeply, I can't take away anything else from them. Cancer has already stolen enough from their childhoods as well.

If you can, please consider donating to help our family. We would appreciate it so much.