10-year-old cancer patient in remission after battling cancer
A 10-year-old cancer patient has been in and out of the hospital since last year.
"I've been fighting acute lymphoblastic leukemia," cancer patient Rachel Grace Garza said.
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Grace's cancer is in remission, and she is in the final phase of treatment.
"As she's on oral chemo and in maintenance, her numbers are beginning to level out," Grace's mother Rachel Garza said. "And so she's not as susceptible to infections anymore."
Grace is back in class at Canterbury Elementary after being homeschooled for the last year because of her weak immune system.
"I feel like I'm back to normal again, but even though I'm not, it feels like I am," Grace said. "Because I can be with my friends."
As part of her maintenance treatment, Grace takes oral chemo medication and has regular spinal taps, but that does not stop her from being involved in the classroom.
"I had a lumbar and there was destination imagination tryouts," Grace said.
"They told her at the hospital, 'you don't have to go back to school,' and she says 'no, I have to,'" Rachel said.
"She was like really worried thinking about me, and I was just there at tryouts having fun," Grace said.
Grace's hospital experience has been made easier due to a non-profit called Starlight.
"What I like about Starlight is it makes the hospital feel safe to kids," Grace said. "I got a hospital gown, and it had a bee with a crown on it, and it's a YouTuber that I watch."
Starlight Children's Foundation gives kids in hospitals around the country access to fun gowns and several game options, like the Nintendo Switch starlight gaming console and starlight virtual reality.
"We know that happy kids heal faster, they're more compliant with the procedures in the hospital and at home," CEO of Starlight Children's Foundation Adam Garone said.
Rachel says her daughter actually looks forward to playing with the virtual reality headset whenever they return for her spinal tap procedure.
In honor of Childhood Awareness Month, Starlight is hosting a fundraiser called Stream, all month long to raise money for these hospital programs.
To donate to Starlight, click here.