2021 Miracle Child – Delilah Steiner-Zehender 
Written by her mom, Leni

Delilah was first diagnosed with Neuroblastoma in October 2016. Our sweet, baby girl was just 5 months old. Soon after the diagnoses, she had 3 rounds of chemotherapy and appeared to be in remission for about 2 ½ years. 

Then, in January of 2020, we went for her routine checkup and her blood count was not normal. We quickly learned that her Neuroblastoma had recurred. We immediately started on the treatment protocol for recurrent Neuroblastoma. Recurrent Neuroblastoma is extremely aggressive--both the disease and the treatment. At this time, she is nearing the end of her treatment journey and will soon start round 3 of 5 of immunotherapy. 

In all, Delilah’s treatment protocol included 6 rounds of chemotherapy, bone marrow harvesting (Delilah's bone marrow), surgery to remove her left adrenal gland (the site of the original cancer) and the remaining tumor, a bone marrow transplant, 12 radiation treatments and finally the 5 rounds of immunotherapy. Technically she has been in remission since the surgery (i.e. no detectable Neuroblastoma), however when Neuroblastoma is recurrent it can lie dormant and rear its ugly head in the future. Therefore, Delilah needed to endure the rest of the treatment protocol: to help ensure that she will not have another recurrence.  

Working with Sparrow and U of M Mott has been an excellent experience.The team of doctors worked together seamlessly to provide Delilah with excellent care ensuring her treatment success all the while communicating with us on what to expect and making sure we fully understood what was happening and why.

Thanks to Delilah’s team of caregivers, we are excited for when we can finally say “goodbye” to Neuroblastoma…