One Family's Story of Hospitality and Hope
by Mary Hay Davis
Most parents who take their child to a 15-month well-baby checkup expect a routine immunization, a few tears and then some kisses to make it all better. But for the Devermann family of Ramona, their daughter’s checkup brought something far worse: a diagnosis of leukemia for little Katelyn.
In October 2008, parents Todd and Krystal Devermann received the devastating news that something was wrong with their daughter’s blood work. They were told to go immediately to Rady Children’s Hospital, where a room was waiting for them.
The next two weeks were a roller coaster of emotions as doctors struggled to pinpoint exactly what was wrong with Katelyn. Finally, on Halloween, the diagnosis came: an extremely rare form of leukemia called Acute Megakaryocytic Leukemia (AMKL).
On top of the leukemia diagnosis, doctors discovered that Katelyn also had a translocation of the first and twenty-second chromosomes, making her condition extremely rare in the annals of medical history...
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Mary Hay Davis is a freelance writer who lives in Alpine with her husband and two teenage sons. She specializes in writing on topics within the realm of health and medicine.