Within a week of moving from Algeria, North Africa, to Bathurst, New Brunswick, in 2023, Kenza, then two years old, began feeling unwell. She had a low fever, a bloated stomach, discoloured skin, and low energy.
Her parents, Ramses and Malika, suspected Kenza may have caught an illness during the long journey to Canada. They did their best to help Kenza feel better at home, but when over-the-counter medicine provided no relief and her fever wouldn’t subside, they knew something was very wrong.
Ramses and Malika brought Kenza to their local emergency department in New Brunswick. After a thorough evaluation of Kenza’s symptoms, her care team suspected she may have leukemia, a type of blood cancer. To confirm the diagnosis, Kenza needed to be airlifted to the IWK for further testing.
At the IWK, the family met with Dr. Valérie Bourque-Riel, a Pediatric Hematologist-Oncologist, who became a lifeline for them because she could communicate in French, their first language.
Dr. Valérie Bourque-Riel confirmed what everyone had feared — Kenza had leukemia.
Kenza was admitted to the IWK, where she underwent further testing to determine exactly what type of leukemia she had. About a week later, the family learned that she had B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. This is the most common type of leukemia.
The care team explained the diagnosis and treatment plan carefully, ensuring Ramses and Malika felt confident in the care they were receiving. The next step was to begin treatment, which included lumbar punctures and chemotherapy.
A lumbar puncture is a medical test where a doctor inserts a small needle into the lower back to collect cerebrospinal fluid. The procedure collects information about the type of leukemia a patient has and whether it has spread in the cerebrospinal fluid. It can also deliver chemotherapy.
During those first weeks after Kenza’s diagnosis, Ramses says the family felt as though they were simply going through the motions. “We thought about nothing else but Kenza’s health. While she was at the IWK, we had to learn to live one day at a time.”
From October through December 2023, Kenza underwent treatment at the IWK’s Hematology Oncology Clinic. In December 2023, she finished the most intense phase of chemotherapy treatment and returned home to New Brunswick, where she received subsequent phases of chemotherapy.
Six months after Kenza’s diagnosis, the family received the news that put the joy of living, or the “joie de vivre” as Ramses described it, back in their lives: Kenza was cancer free.
In a moment the family will never forget, Kenza rang the bell to signify she was cancer-free.
“It was an exceptional moment to get this news. We felt like we were walking on clouds,” shared Ramses.
Thankfully, follow-up lumbar puncture and blood work showed no signs of cancer. Kenza moved into a new phase of her journey: monitoring and recovery. Her visits to the IWK became focused on blood work and physical examinations. Initially, she returned every few weeks, and over time the visits became less frequent. Today, she is followed approximately every three months.
The return home marked the return of joy and hope for Kenza and her family.
Kenza, now five-years-old, remains cancer-free and is doing very well. It took some time for her energy and personality to fully return, but her family says that her familiar spunk is back. She is once again playing with friends, making people laugh and filling her family’s life with the energy and character they know and love.
Irving Oil Fuel the Care
During Kenza’s treatment and follow up care, the family needed to make frequent trips from their home in New Brunswick to the IWK. Thanks to Irving Oil’s Fuel the Care program, the cost of their fuel was covered, and the family didn’t need to worry about the cost of travel to the IWK. They could remain focused on what mattered the most: Kenza getting better.
By choosing a Fuel the Care Pump, you’re helping to ensure IWK patients and families can get where they need to go for medical care. Learn more at fuelthecare.ca
