Advancing Keiki Cancer Care

The year 2021 was looking like a wonderful one for the Borges ‘ohana in Lihu‘e. In September, they welcomed a new daughter, Seeley. She was a precious gift for her parents, Hayley and Shawn, and big sister Ainsley.

But a few weeks later, Seeley developed a fever. At the emergency room, a blood test revealed that the infant’s white blood cell count was three times higher than normal levels.

Little Seeley had cancer. She needed to be transferred to Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children.

Kapi‘olani’s Critical Care Transport team flew Seeley from Kaua‘i to O‘ahu, where doctors diagnosed her with a rare and aggressive form of leukemia. She began her first 10 days of chemotherapy as one of the youngest patients ever treated at Kapi‘olani for cancer. Seeley was just about three weeks old.

“There was a definite feeling of fear,” Hayley says. “Even amongst the Kapi‘olani staff, because they had already grown attached to our little girl.”

More than 200 children are diagnosed with or treated for cancer at Kapi‘olani every year. It is often the beginning of a long journey. Pediatric oncologists begin seeing some of their patients, like Seeley, as infants and help care for them as they grow.

“We all work together to support the family, because they become our family,” Dr. Wade Kyono, Seeley’s pediatric oncologist, says. “You share the good times, and during the bad times, we lean on each other.”

Soon, families of children with cancer will be able to receive comprehensive, lifesaving care in a center designed just for them. The new Martha B. Smith Cancer & Infusion Center will offer the latest technology and treatments for pediatric, breast, and gynecologic cancers. It will also offer a collaborative space for the multiple specialists who work toward a shared goal: helping cancer patients become cancer survivors.

That includes Seeley. The baby who received a lifesaving bone marrow transplant from her mother when she was just four months old is now an active two-year-old. Most importantly, she is cancer-free. Dr. Kyono and the Kapi‘olani team see her every month and look forward to when she turns five. That’s when Seeley can be officially categorized as in remission.

“We feel everyone at Kapi‘olani loves Seeley as much as we do, and they want to do the best they can to help her,” Hayley says. “The Kapi‘olani team is family.”

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