Life was going normal for our family. Travels had taken us to Florida in January of 2023, where we were ministering at many churches. During our trip, we took time to visit the Jacksonville Zoo because our little Chloe loved animals so much. How little did we know that our lives would be forever changed within one month.

Chloe was taken to the University of Virginia ER with abdominal pain on Tuesday evening, February 21st, 2023. Scans showed that she had a tumor on her right kidney the size of a softball and a baseball side by side. The tumor and right kidney were surgically removed on Friday, February 24th.

The surgery was more difficult than expected. The tumor was growing out of her kidney forward –– towards her belly. The surgeon found that it had also attached to part of her intestines. Unbeknownst to us, the surgeon thought she may have to abort the surgery because of that, but since the tumor had burst and there was so much blood in Chloe’s abdomen, she knew she had to get it out. She called in her colleague (the head surgeon) to assess the situation, and he came to help finish the surgery which lasted about eight hours.

At first, Chloe’s pathology report came back as stage 3 Anaplastic Wilms’ tumor. It is an aggressive cancer and can come back in other areas. The doctors at UVA Medical Center recommended intense chemotherapy treatments for 52 weeks and 12 radiation treatments.

On March 9th, 2023, Isaac and Angela were told that Chloe had a small nodule of cancer on one of her lungs. That changed her diagnosis to stage 4 cancer. At that point, the doctors decided to do radiation over a larger area to make sure that the cancer on her lung would be killed. She had her first chemo- therapy treatment on March 12th.

May of 2023 was a busy month of both radiation and chemotherapy treatments. A scan was done before radiation treatments began and found that the small nodule on her lung was no longer there. Chloe finished her last radiation treatment on May 17.

Though her year was filled with many difficult days, she persevered –with God’s help– with a smile on her face. She made many friends in her new environment, at the hospital and clinic, making the most of every day.

Chloe finished her long year of Chemotherapy treatments in March of 2024. Her after-treatment CT scan showed that everything was clear.

                 

On April 20, 2024, Chloe celebrated her fifth birthday during a two month period that we thought she was cancer free. She lived life to the fullest, not wasting a moment during this precious post-treatment time at home.

As Isaac, Angela and Chloe headed to enjoy their first vacation since her cancer diagnosis, Chloe began having pain and stomach issues once again. Isaac and Angela decided to take her to UVA on Tuesday, June 4, 2024, and she was admitted to the hospital June 5th after an ultrasound showed some concerns. A later CT scan revealed that an aggressive cancer had come back and was in-operable. The doctors gave her a 25% chance of pulling through using very strong Chemos to shrink the tumors with hopes to make surgery possible.

Initially, the tumors showed shrinkage after her first treatment, and Chloe got to spend 9 days at home after a month long stay at the hospital. Chloe enjoyed every moment of these days at home.

As Chloe went in for her next treatment, she began to show signs that things were not right again. Another CT scan revealed that the aggressive tumors had re-grown during the short period of time since her last Chemo treatment.

Another Chemo was tried, and then another… all with little to no results against the cancer. July and August was filled with the ups and downs of hopes for healing and bad news from scans and doctors.

Chloe passed away peacefully in her sleep on August 23, 2024 at UVA Medical Center. She fought a good fight, and finished her course. She is forever healed and enjoying the splendors of heaven and the presence of Jesus!

Chloe will always be remembered as a little girl who loved life, her family and others. She had a winning smile and made the most of every day. We thankful for every precious moment we had with her.

Our God is faithful and that He is working everything for our good and His glory. We are trusting His promise of Romans 8:28,  “…we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

We certainly miss our sweet Chloe and covet your continued prayers –especially for Isaac and Angela — as we have many difficult days ahead.