Two days after Hopie's eighth birthday, she was diagnosed with a very rare cancer known as DSRCT, which stands for Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumor. The doctors gave her a 7% chance of survival for that year. However, her mother looked at her doctor, Dr. Goodell from Advocate Lutheran Children's Hospital, and said, "She's going to make it, and you are the doctor who is going to make that happen." She had prayed about it and felt that he was the right doctor for Hopie. Her mother made it clear to everyone who wanted to visit her that they needed to check their tears at the door and not bring them into Hopie's room. Hopie was facing the fight of her life, and despite the many rounds of chemotherapy, two weeks at home, and two weeks in the hospital for fevers for an entire year, she fought hard with her family's support. Hopie had over a dozen rounds of chemo, followed by her first stem cell transplant at Children's of Wi Milwaukee, HOT unit. Finally, after hearing the words NED, they thought they could put the "c" word behind them. But Hopie faced years of ups and downs, new issues, scans every three months, and setbacks. She rebounded like a champ with each setback, knowing that she quietly had a lot of aches and pains inside. Her bone marrow never fully recovered from her first stem cell transplant, making her feel tired most of the time. Four years later, Hopie relapsed. The doctors threw everything at her the first time around, so there wasn't much they could do this time. She had an oral chemo and weeks of radiation, and thankfully, they heard the news NED again. They started feeling good, but PTSD was still strong with any stomach ache, odd not feeling good, each new bruise. Hopie's bone marrow was slowly quitting on her, so they knew they would have to face another stem cell transplant at some point. However, there was no more kicking it down the road when a new issue arose: bladder cancer from a type of chemo she had taken years ago. Hopie spent a large part of her lifetime in hospitals in different states, undergoing more than 25 procedures and surgeries so far. They managed to remove the whole tumor, but now it was time to face a bigger problem: MDS. It was time for another stem cell transplant, but Hopie's body was worn out and tired. Nevertheless, she fought once again, even completing a marathon during the three weeks she spent in the hospital getting her stem cell transplant. She had blistered feet, couldn't breathe, and was in immense pain, but she never gave up. Hopie had a lot of complications that came from the high-dose chemo, and it was very rapid. Her family will never say that she lost her battle. Rylie Hope Mogan "Hopie" won. 🤍