VANCOUVER, Wash. — Inside a Vancouver home, a mother and her 6-year-old daughter play together, trying to find some semblance of normalcy amid an uncertain new reality. Layla, the inquisitive young child with a ready smile and goofy sense of humor, was recently diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.
Chelsey Reiter said when the doctor told her the news, that her youngest daughter had cancer, she was gutted.
"Your world shatters," Chelsey said. "You feel like your world is coming to an end."
Layla's cancer was discovered after what should have been a normal slide down a slip 'n slide over the summer. She went down stomach-first and came up in pain.
"She came up to me and said, 'Mom, my stomach hurts,'" Chelsey said. "I was like, 'Oh, OK.' I thought maybe she had fell on her belly and maybe twisted something. And then she started throwing up, and she's never thrown up before."
An ultrasound revealed a mass in her lower pelvic area. The force of going down the slip 'n slide belly first had ruptured it, which her mom said was a blessing of sorts.
"They never catch it this early," Chelsey said.
Layla was diagnosed with a very rare cancer called CIC-DUX4 Rearranged Roundcell Sarcoma.
It's a form of sarcoma that doctors say presents similar to Ewing sarcoma.
"It's a very rare type of cancer that is fairly newly differentiated from what we used to call this combination of diseases that we would refer to as the Ewing's family," said Dr. Colette Lauhan, a pediatric hematologist/oncologist at Randall's Children's Hospital.
The cancer invading Layla's body is so rare that her doctors have little information to go off of. Lauhan pointed to a 27-year study of the same form of cancer and said in that stretch, only 31 cases were found.
It's also seen more in males than females and more present in those in their 20s to 40s, although Lauhan said it has been seen in patients younger than a year old.
"What we've learned from the last few decades from looking more closely at this, is that this is a disease that behaves differently biologically and responds differently to treatment," Lauhan said.
For the past two months, Layla has been in and out of the hospitals. Her days at the hospital are filled with doctor appointments, blood transfusions and at least eight chemotherapy treatments.
On a recent day, Chelsey and Layla sit in their home, coloring together.
"These are the good days. These are fun days," Chelsey said.
The days following chemotherapy are the bad days.
"We have treatments that we have to stay in the hospital for five days straight and get chemo every day for five days straight. Those are very difficult," Chelsey said. "She's so sick that we have to carry her to the bathroom. She can't even get up."
Layla's not fighting this thing alone; there are a lot of people in her corner.
When her mom posted on Facebook, asking if people would send cards to Layla, she received more than 200 of them.
"So many presents and cards and things for her. Just showing us the community coming together for us is amazing," Chelsey said.
The Camas-Washougal Fire Department sent a real helmet and the all-female crew sent a photo of them holding up signs that say "You got this" and "Layla strong".
Layla will need that strength for everything that lies ahead.
"Our treatment plan is for six months," Chelsey said to Layla as the two sat on their couch.
"And then we'll be done?" Layla asked.
"And then we might be done," her mom answered. "But we don't know, because some things change and sometimes the plan changes, OK?
"But it would be out of my stomach by then?" Layla asked again.
"Well that's what we're hoping for, OK?" Chelsey said.
Chelsey has started a GoFundMe to help pay expenses and hopes they can schedule a surgery later in November to remove a good portion, if not all of the mass inside Layla. You can also send Layla your own card if you'd like to let her know she's not fighting this alone.