Marley Miller

Marley Jane was born in 2016 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She started her life not knowing many of her relatives, as Thomas and I are originally from Summerville, SC. 2022 was going to be the year we moved to be closer to our families and friends. We wanted her to grow up close to her family the way Thomas and I were raised.

In November 2021, Marley started to complain of back pain. We didn’t think anything of it for a few days as she has always played rough. The pain persisted through 6 different hospital visits over the course of about 2 months. The pains were brushed off as growing pains and/or muscular or skeletal pains. During the 2 months of visits, Marley and I had relocated to SC in anticipation of moving early for the holidays.

On January 25, 2022 I couldn’t stand to look at our daughter in misery any longer so I took her to Palmetto Pediatrics in Summerville, SC to have blood work done. My worst fears had come true. Not only did she come in with the flu AND covid at the same time, she would be diagnosed with B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, ALL. She would spend the next 40 days at Shawn Jenkins MUSC undergoing intense chemotherapy. Her first day outside in the fresh air was to move into the Ronald McDonald House for another month while Thomas and I tried to sell our home and move our belongings across the country.

There have been a lot of dark times since January, but we were given a glimpse of hope when we thought we were at our lowest point. Every cancer patient’s DNA is studied at John Hopkins, and Marley’s DNA contains a special mutated gene named RUNX1. We nicknamed her Deadpool because of it. Each kid who possesses this specific gene, will undergo the least amount of chemotherapy in the least amount of time to keep the cancer in remission.

After 2 years of treatment, there is less than a 1% chance that the cancer will return. Plus, each year she grows older, the smaller that window gets. Despite the many challenges that this disease has thrown in Marley’s way, she has remained the sweet, spunky, and very independent girl she has been since birth.

She entered this world fighting for air, blue, with her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck. Little did we know, that would be the beginning of her story. She’s still a fighter today. Fighting for her life against Leukemia. Marley has been kicking booty since the beginning and will not give up or slow down. This disease is just a minor speed bump in this kid’s high speed lifestyle. Thank you for helping Marley have a great Christmas this year.

Marley likes Fishing, camping, skiing, shooting, boating, hiking, video games, music, art, food. She also loves at home science projects and STEM kits. She loves to color, paint, and try out new painting methods (pouring, tie dye, spin art). She loves anything to do outdoors. She's a daredevil. She loves food and snacks.

https://www.amazon.com/registries/holiday/ZCOA9W3I6RZV/guest-view Shirt & Pant Size: 5/6, Shoe Size: 12C