Charlee’s Fight Club

Care packages and encouragement for cancer warriors – joining their fight in body, heart, and spirit.

Tribe Support

My name is Autumn, and I am a wife, mom of five children, and a special education teacher. Children are my purpose in this world. I know that the Good Lord gave me this blessing and gift to serve Him. With that being said, raising children and educating special needs children in this modern world isn’t for the weak. When you hear the words, “Your daughter has Leukemia,” your knees hit the ground and you find out exactly how strong you are. You realize how much you need God and the support of others to exhibit this strength.

I should start with a little background. My oldest four children are all amazing boys. When we added our fifth and last child to our family, we were blessed with a little girl. Charlee Sue was the perfect addition to our family. When you have four older brothers doting on you, you are indeed a princess.

My children were always healthy, other than typical childhood ailments. During Charlee Sue’s Kindergarten year, she became sick and I couldn’t put my finger on what it was. She had allergy symptoms, low grade fevers, nausea/vomiting, leg pain, bruises everywhere, and eventually knots in her neck. I took her to the pediatrician three times in two months. The doctor kept blaming it on Covid and being a kid. My mom instinct knew this wasn’t the case and I kept following up. One day, her teacher walked her to my classroom because she was so worried about her. She was so fatigued that she couldn’t even hold her head up off the desk and had intense dark circles under her eyes. I knew we were waiting on bloodwork to come back from the pediatrician that she had drawn the previous day (that I had to push for). When the lymph nodes in her neck started swelling and bruising right in front of me, I decided not to wait on her doctor. I loaded her up and took her to the closest ER. After bloodwork, Charlee was
immediately transported by ambulance to Monroe-Carroll’s Pediatric Hospital at Vanderbilt. My husband, Jeremiah, met us there.

They kept telling us they thought it was a form of Leukemia, but I kept praying for them to be wrong. By 6am on October 21, 2021, after running tests on her all night, our sweet Charlee Sue was diagnosed with B-Cell ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia). Our whole world was turned upside down. I had left the room to call and check on my boys. When I came back in, my husband told me the doctor had come in and confirmed the diagnosis. I went to the bathroom, hit my knees, and had a meltdown crying into a towel so my daughter would not hear me. After a bit, I prayed for strength for my child and strength for us. I knew my feelings and emotions at that moment were insignificant compared to the fight she was about to have to endure. I wiped my tears, sucked it up, and went back into the room with Charlee and my husband while we absorbed the news and listened to the doctors. All I can say, is my husband is a rock and we both needed him. That’s a hard load for him to carry – always having to be the strong one for all of us.

Her blood cells upon being admitted were 86% blasts. This means her blood cells were 86% overtaken with Leukemia cells. Upon further testing, the team was relieved that the cancer had not spread to her spine or brain stem. We had to tell our four boys by video phone afterschool that day that their sister had cancer. To see your children hurting and scared, but not be there to comfort them is another challenge all on its own. We had a great support system with my parents, his parents, and my sister-in-law. They took care of our boys and our entire hometown also supported them. She was given blood and platelets, was put to sleep to have a port put in, endured intense chemo, and took lots of medicine. She spent 18 days in the hospital on this initial admission.

Despite the worries, hardships, and tears, the blessings poured in. By the next day, my Facebook was covered in “Team Charlee” profile pictures for everyone we knew, and even people we didn’t. People sent mail, money, food, gifts, and things we didn’t even know we needed. Money was raised, and our bills were paid. We knew those first couple weeks that we were in for a long gruesome road ahead, but we were not alone. The biggest comfort to me was two cancer parents that I had never met who reached out to me. I relied on them so heavily the first few months. They knew exactly how I felt and gave me hope. They told me what to ask the medical team, what to expect, and what we needed. God knew I needed these parents.

I then did what every mom and teacher does, and educated myself on everything there was to know about B-Cell ALL. My husband provided comfort to us both, but especially Charlee. She has always been a daddy’s girl. Our sweet Charlee Sue has endured many hospital trips, ambulance rides, lots of different kinds of chemo, lumbar punctures, ng tubes, and I could go on and on. She has been in the hospital more than some people will ever experience in a lifetime. I watched my beautiful, blonde curly-haired baby girl lose all her hair, lose weight, and become so sick. She is truly a warrior princess. She endured all these things, but never lost her smile. There were days we had to work extra hard to make sure that smile was still there, but she never lost it. We did everything we could think of to support her. We went bald with her, we played with her, we held her, and we always showed up as a team. She needed us both and we needed each other.

Her total treatment is 2.5 years. She is currently in maintenance and was able to go back to school this year. She still has roadblocks from time to time, but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Her fight started on October 21, 2021 and she will take her last dose of chemo in December 2023. Our Charlee Sue is destined for greatness and will influence many people in her lifetime. She already has. She is the toughest person I know. This battle will just be part of her future testimony. If this sweet, innocent little gal can kick Leukemia’s butt like a champ, then any of us can endure anything put in our paths. She always smiles and never complains. She inspires me to be strong every day.

The other parents I have met in this journey are what provided me the most comfort. They give you suggestions, love, emotional support, and hope. I have tried my best to provide this to other parents. Anytime I hear of a new diagnosis of a child with cancer in our area, I reach out. I try to be the support to them that others have been for me. If you need support, I would love to talk with you. Sometimes it helps just knowing someone is going through the same battle as you, and that you are not alone.

~Autumn