Seven-year-old fighting leukemia
by Trinity Gruenberg
trinity@inhnews.com
A beautiful seven-year-old girl was recently diagnosed with leukemia and will spend the next several months in and out of the hospital.
Grace Bailey is the daughter of Bertha native Trisha Keller who currently resides in Alexandria with her fiance Jammin Hanson of Parkers Prairie. The Sanford Hospital, children’s unit, in Fargo, has become their second home.
Keller is a 2007 Bertha-Hewitt graduate and has five children: Jacobi, nine months; Addison, 10; Khloe, 8; Grace, 7; and Eric, 18.
Keller is the oldest of her siblings, Brady Bartels, Levi Bartels, Brittany and Michael Bloch.
The past month has been life-changing for the family as Grace was diagnosed with leukemia toward the end of October.
Keller noticed the first grader had red spots on her skin during a school conference. They brought her into the hospital where the acute myeloid leukemia was discovered. She was immediately sent to Sanford and started chemotherapy. Her first treatment was from October 23 through November 1. A spinal tap was performed and they discovered the cancer had not spread to her spinal cord.
Grace receives chemotherapy for 10 days, and then they have to wait for her white blood cell count to increase before she can come home for a week before the next 10-day round. The family was told the chemotherapy will be for six to nine months of treatments.
If Grace doesn’t go into remission after this round of chemo, they will have to get her a bone marrow transplant.
Keller and Grace’s father Erin Bailey of Alexandria alternate weekly to be in the hospital with Grace so she is never left alone. They stay in the room with her. . .
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