Today I chat with my friend and fellow cancer mom Jenna about carrying her son through a 42 day bone marrow transplant this past summer. This episode is really important for so many reasons, BMT is a big and daunting procedure that so many of our families go through - so many parents are in complete isolation with their children for weeks and months, there are so many layers, so many challenges - we could talk about the isolation alone for 20 episodes - it’s just such a consuming and encompassing part of treatment. Jenna does a brilliant job of sharing their experience with so much accuracy, and she does it so families who have been through BMT or are going through BMT feel seen, and know that despite the intense isolation - they are not alone.

But before we get to Jenna, I’m going to give you a little background on Jenna’s son Hendrix to set the stage.

Hendrix was 3 when he was dx with B cell ALL. He endured the very long and intense treatment ALL requires - chemo, lumbar punctures, countless procedures - right when he started maintenance, Hendrix went into severe diabetic ketoacidosis, almost losing his life. This led to a type 1 diabetes diagnosis to his already intense and wildly unfair leukaemia diagnosis.

And then, going into his 6th round of maintenance, Hendrix relapsed, forcing him to battle a second time, now as a type one diabetic. Relapse treatment was extremely challenging, Hendrix became chemo resistant and his cancer was still present even after his re-induction. He qualified for Car T therapy, which was also a long and VERY hard road, and unfortunately didn’t work as well, leaving a bone marrow transplant as the only option left. He did immunotherapy and spent seven months getting into remission for transplant, which miraculously worked, and that is where our conversation today with Jenna, Hendrix’s mom, begins.

As someone who didn’t go through BMT with my child, this was part educational, part enlightening and honestly just left me pretty astonished at Jenna’s ability to disassociate, which you’ll hear us talk about as the main strategy she used to endure this really trying, really challenging experience.

For any family going into BMT, Jenna’s story will be a reference and for any family who’s done BMT, Jenna’s story will be a recognition for what you did to support your child through one of the most harrowing experiences I think we can go through in oncology treatment.

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Today I speak with Mel, an ALL survivor currently in her second year of university. Mel was diagnosed at 17, and just recently rang the bell this past summer, so her account of treatment is still really fresh and honest. Our talk today is from Mel’s lens as an AYA patient, and how we as parents can best support our teens and young adult children going through treatment at an age when they are fully aware of every single layer of their cancer diagnosis.

Mel talks about what helped and didn’t help when it comes to support from her peers and family, and how the moments when her parents acknowledged how hard treatment was, rather than bright side it away, were the moments she connected the most. As a parent, all we want to do is take away our child’s suffering, so for her mom and dad to have the fortitude and strength to sit with Mel in her fear and discomfort is a level of love and commitment I am so deeply proud of in them. I also happen to know Mel’s parents, and want to take this chance to publicly acknowledge their strength and internal compass to know exactly how to best support their daughter. I adore Mel, and her family, and can’t wait to share her story. So, let’s dive deep with Mel.

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Today I speak with Leah, a pediatric nurse and nutritional coach who has spent more than a decade supporting families through some of the most meaningful and vulnerable times of their life. She’s worked in pediatric intensive care and birthing centres, and later built her own practice — one that helps parents navigate those early years of nutrition and development with a more holistic, compassionate approach. Her goal was always to make a real difference — to help children heal not just from illness, but to help parents build a strong, stable foundation that would set their babies up for life.

And then, when her third child, Etta, was diagnosed at three years old with neuroblastoma, everything destabilized. Leah suddenly found herself on the other side — in that upside-down world we all know too well — where it’s not someone else’s tragedy anymore, it’s your own.

In our conversation, Leah speaks with such honesty and wisdom about what that transformation feels like — how our bodies go into motion to keep our children alive, while our hearts and souls have to step back to protect us from a pain too big to hold all at once. And we talk about how later, when treatment ends, there’s that quiet reckoning — when life asks you to come back to yourself, and how it feels to reenter a body that has just been through war. How turning on the washing machine feels impossible, because everything feels so broken. Leah talks about how she healed, and continues to heal, with such warmth, depth and grounded insight.

She’s thoughtful, gentle, and I deeply trust her — she is someone who makes you feel safe just by being in her presence. I loved this conversation, and I think you’ll feel her steadiness and grace too.

Leah's Cookbook https://www.amazon.ca/All-Organic-Baby-Food-Cookbook-Nutritious/dp/0593196759

Leah's Website https://www.bloomingmotherhood.co/

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