Kate Cox

a Mother Just Knows.

Tisha Cox knew that something wasn’t quite right with her youngest daughter, Kate. There was what looked like a rash on the 15-month-old’s skin and Kate wasn’t able to fight off a common cold.

“Leukemia didn’t cross my mind immediately, but I guess it was always in the back of my mind,” Tisha said.

In early 2013, Kate was getting a prescription for antibiotics every few weeks. “Finally, I told our pediatrician that I needed to know whether she has leukemia or not,” Tisha said.

Kate was born with Down syndrome, which gave her a slightly higher risk for developing leukemia. A normal platelet count ranges from 150,000 to 450,000. Tests showed Kate’s platelet count was 19,000.

After these tests, the Coxes were sent to the Children’s Cancer Center at Batson Children’s Hospital, a part of Children’s of Mississippi.

“Because AML is an aggressive kind of leukemia, we wanted to hit it really hard,” Tisha said. The strong doses of chemotherapy did their job. Kate is now six year past her initial diagnosis and is getting good reports when she goes to Batson for check-ups.

Today, Kate is an active first-grader who loves swimming, singing, and won the Dancing Queen Award at Camp Rainbow, a summer camp for children who are undergoing cancer treatments or who are cancer survivors.

“She is very social,” Tisha said. “And she loves to entertain!”