4-Year-Old Leukemia Survivor Enjoys First Christmas at Home

All Maja Murphy wanted for Christmas was …everything! While Barbie dolls and other “girly things,” as her mom Jaime describes them, are high on her wish list for Santa, the best present for the 4-year-old and her family is one most children take for granted.

For the very first time of her young life, Maja awoke Christmas morning in her own comfy bed, just steps away from the family tree – not in a hospital room at Cleveland Clinic Children’s. Not long before, Maja had spent more than half of her life at the hospital.

“It’s was an amazing day,” says Jaime. “Maja’s been through so much, but finally she’s able to live a normal life.”

Diagnosed at just three months of age with infant acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a very aggressive form of blood and bone marrow cancer, Maja endured countless rounds of chemotherapy, intense radiation treatments, multiple surgeries for various complications and numerous other procedures in her brave fight.

With nearly all hope lost, after a relapse in 2015, her medical team at Cleveland Clinic Children’s recommended a risky treatment: a bone marrow transplant. According to Rabi Hanna, MD, Chair of the Department of Hematology-Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant at Cleveland Clinic Children’s, the procedure is typically a last resort for patients for whom more traditional forms of treatment have not been sustainable.

“Maja was quite sick and was suffering severe complications from her treatments,” Dr. Hanna explains. “We were fearful that she wouldn’t be strong enough to survive the transplant. But Maja is a fighter, with an amazing will to live.”

Given her fragile health, Maja was not an ideal candidate for a bone marrow transplant, which typically requires heavy doses of chemotherapy and radiation to prepare the immune system for the surgery. Dr. Hanna thus chose to try a safer transplantation procedure using antibodies, which had never been attempted on an infant ALL patient.

Her mom, however, never wavered in her belief that the unconventional procedure would be a success.

“Call it a mother’s intuition, but I never had any doubts about the transplant,” recalls Jaime. “Despite all that Maja had been through, I had such a positive feeling that everything would work out.”

And did it ever! Maja has been cancer-free for nearly two years and has become an eager participant in all sorts of activities – including swimming and ballet classes. She started pre-school in September and is quickly adapted to a social environment she rarely experienced in the first years of her life. Maja makes monthly trips to Cleveland Clinic Children’s to monitor her white blood count, and gets weekly guidance to bolster her ability to eat; otherwise, her medical trials appear to be behind her.

While the bone marrow transplant was successful, Maja nevertheless spent Christmas 2016 back in the hospital, ultimately requiring surgery to correct a severe intestinal disorder. In 2017, Maja enjoyed a Merry Christmas at home with her baby sister, Thea, and 7-year-old stepsister, Ella.

“Today, Maja is a normal child again,” says Dr. Hanna. “We’re really excited that there is no evidence of the leukemia more than two years after transplant. It’s something to celebrate.”