Chrissy is one of the youngest people ever to have breast cancer.
Eight year old Chrissy Turner loves dragons. She adores dinosaurs – velociraptors in particular – and loves being in the water.
The blonde haired little girl still sleeps every night with her teddy bear, Andy and she worships her 16-year old sister who she says is her “best friend.”
Eight-year old Chrissy Turner is just like any other eight-year old you might know – warm, funny, a delight to be around.
Except this eight-year old girl isn’t like any other, she is facing a struggle inconceivable for a child so young. This eight-year old has breast cancer – one of the youngest persons ever to be diagnosed with the disease.
The little girl first became aware something was wrong when she went to her parents after finding a lump on her chest.
“It was about the middle of October she came to us with a lump on her chest and was scared,” said her father, Troy Turner, who also has non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma told ABC4 Utah News.
After a series of tests the eight-year old from Utah in the US was diagnosed with Secretory Breast Carcinoma – rare form of cancer which only affects 1 in 1,000,000 adults, and has almost never been seen before in a such a young person.
In fact, doctors told Chrissy’s parents Annette and Troy they only have 15 other cases to compare the cancer to.
Annette, said she was hit hard by the news “I broke down.”
“It’s a struggle every day worrying about my family, about my husband and now my baby girl.”
Chrissy and her family speak about her diagnosis …
Secretory breast carcinoma is a slow growing breast cancer that is the most common type of breast carcinoma in children. Stanford University say that while it may occur at any age it is mostly seen in people under the age of 30. The prognosis is good but it must be treated aggressively as it is prone to spreading and recurring.
In 2011 a four-year old girl Aleisha Hunter, from Canada was underwent a mastectomy, removing her entire nipple, areola, breast tissue and the lymph nodes under her left arm after she was found to have the same cancer.
Today Aleisha is eight and doing well.
While Chrissy’s family face a long battle a cancer diagnosis isn’t new to them.
Both of Chrissy’s parents have had cancer – Annette – cervical cancer and Troy had non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma when Chrissy was a baby but recently he has been told it has come back.
Chrissy is set to undergo a mastectomy in early December. Writing on a fundraising page created for the Turners, family friend Melissa Papaj wrote: “Chrissy’s case is being presented nationally and is being reviewed by top oncologists in the country along with being taken to the Utah state tumor board next week.”
She explains how Troy’s diagnosis is adding to the family’s worries: “Adding to the plate is the fact that her daddy, yes, Chrissy’s daddy, Troy, is still fighting his battle with cancer too. In August 2008, Troy was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, after eight months of rigorous chemotherapy; Troy’s cancer went into remission. In 2011, a PET CT scan revealed cancer activity and yet the cancer isn’t growing quickly enough to respond to therapy, so they are currently in a “watch and wait” state as the cancer slowly grows, visiting the oncologist every three months for a full exam and blood work.”
For eight-year old Chrissy the battle has just begun but with the support of her parents and her 16-year old sister, Brianna, says she is determined to fight the disease “I was scared the first time I knew about it,” she said
“But I knew I could fight it off and I hope that I can fight it off.”
We wish you the best of luck Chrissy stay strong.
Chrissy’s fundraising page can be accessed here.
Top Comments
"velocitators"
Pfft, haven't you ever heard of them? They're really, really fast. I'm pretty sure they actually invented the concept of speed!
Velocitators© is going be a great name for my new potato delivery service.