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Nine-year-old Clyde girl fights cancer

Mountaineer - 9/12/2022

Sep. 10—CLYDE — Izabella "Bella" Nevaeh Rogers, 9, was recently diagnosed with t-cell lymphoma and has been hospitalized at Levine Children's hospital in Charlotte, where she is fighting for her life.

Angie Rhinehart said her granddaughter had always been a very happy and healthy 9-year-old but had a cough that had been previously diagnosed as allergies by her pediatrician.

"We went to the Tuscola football game and when we were going up the steps she was short of breath," Rhinehart explained. "She sat for a bit and then wanted to go play. Some thing happened again when she came back up the steps so I called her doctor, who suggested taking her to ER for a breathing treatment."

An X-ray at the ER revealed the child's left lung had collapsed. Her collapsed lung and her heart were surrounded by fluid, and there was a 4-in-by-4-inch mass in her chest.

"It was then we decided to fly her to Levine Children's hospital in Charlotte," Rhinehart said.

The tumor started possibly less than a month ago and the cancer was growing quickly, Rhinehart said. The doctors saved Rogers's life and that was the most important thing to them.

"At Levine they have been great," she said. "She had surgery to remove one liter of fluid off her lung and 250 cc from around her heart. The tumor was biopsied and found to be Acute Lymphoblastic Lymphoma. She was on the ECMO machine until last week. Currently, she is still on a ventilator but is improving daily," Rhinehart said.

"Recovery is slow and she is having chemo now. She will have physical and occupational therapy as part of her recovery," Rhinehart said.

Rogers is a fourth grade student at Shining Rock Classical Academy. Her favorite subject is math and she loves swimming and riding her bike, as well as playing with her sister, Mattie.

"Bella is currently sedated and on vent," Rhinehart said. "They are still stepping her down slowly. The recovery process for the full treatment will take up to two and a half years."

Rhinehart said that everything happened just as it needed to. "God placed the right person in the right place when needed. Numerous people that have been involved in her care still come back to check on her daily," she added.

Rogers will be making two or three trips to Charlotte per week for about a year, and Rhinehart hopes that everything will slow down a bit. They have set up the GoFundMe account and also an account at Champion Credit Union for people to donate directly to Bella's care.

"We set up her account separately to make sure every cent of donations go directly to her care," Rhinehart said.

The GoFundMe account has raised $8,695 out of $10,00 goal so far. All money that is donated to the account goes directly toward the cancer treatment and other expenses like food, gas and lodging for the trips to Charlotte.

A recent post by Rhinehart said that Bella was making tremendous progress and her doctors are pleased with how the tumor was shrinking more each day.

To donate, visit gofund.me/948b37f3.

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