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This is Part 2 in a two-part series. Read Part 1 here.SALT LAKE CITY — No parent can imagine hearing that their baby has cancer. But for one girl from Sandy, the condition that made her more likely to have cancer is also giving her a greater chance of surviving.
Twenty-month-old Ginny Trawick is bright, smiley and was learning to walk.
“At home, she can go five steps, then sit down,” her mother, Natalie Trawick, said.
But for days at a time, she is confined to a room at Primary Children’s Hospital as she undergoes chemotherapy.
“She went into her 15-month checkup and I noticed something on her back. The doctors came in and said, 'We think she has leukemia,’ ” Trawick said. “You hear about cancer, (but) you have no idea. I had no idea."
Ginny was born with Down syndrome, which Dr. Douglas Fair said makes her more likely to have leukemia.
“Ginny has AML, which means all of her treatment needs to be in the hospital," Fair said. But her Down syndrome also means Ginny is doing very well with the treatment, he added.
“She is incredibly medically boring. She makes our job easy,” he said.
Trawick is grateful for how well things are going. They have done four of six chemo sessions since October, staying each time for about a month at a time.
"The treatment is very specific to her age, to Down syndrome and to her type of leukemia,” Trawick explained.
The energetic toddler misses her older siblings, especially when something as small as a cold keeps them from visiting. “They adore her," Trawick said.
Ginny’s prognosis is good and her parents are grateful.
“I met some families who have been up here for years,” Trawick said.
“All the children here know they are going through a tough thing, even if they can’t speak or express it yet,” Fair said. So they count down the days to go home.
