Burkley Ford

Burkley was found to have a large tumor in her abdomen on February 22, 2021, at the age of 3. She was later diagnosed with Stage IV Neuroblastoma. She had a large 17 cm tumor in her abdomen which originated from the left adrenal gland and it had obliterated her left kidney. She had metastasis into adjacent lymph nodes in her abdomen as well as some lymph nodes in her left clavicle area and her bone marrow. In February she had a very successful surgery which removed the tumor and bulk of the abdominal lymph nodes. Later, genetic testing found the tumor to be the more aggressive form of neuroblastoma (amplified pathology). 

Standard treatment for neuroblastoma at our hospital is broken down into several different phases treatments. 

1) 6 cycles of inpatient chemo over about 5-6 months, surgery to remove the malignancy, and stem cell extraction. 2) TWO Stem cell transplants back to back 3) Radiation 4) Immunotherapy. We are also participating in a clinical trial where she will take a medication for 2 years after treatment. 

Feel free to follow along on Burkley's journey in battling Stage IV neuroblastoma.