Teen Beats Stage 4 Cancer After 500+ Days in Hospital–Just in Time to Go Home for Christmas

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A Tennessee teen’s wish to overcome cancer is coming true more than 500 days since her initial diagnosis, and that’s not all; the 14-year-old cancer survivor Chloe Cress is also going home in time for Christmas.

Chloe was just 12 years old when she was diagnosed with alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare and aggressive cancer, on June 5, 2018. It had all started with back pain, a limp, and a fever.

Doctors at Niswonger Children’s Hospital in Johnson City, Tennessee, ordered a CT scan and discovered a giant tumor in Chloe’s chest. The tumor had already spread down to the teen’s esophagus and vertebrae.

Chloe’s father, Shawn Cress, had initially thought that his daughter’s limp came from tripping over the puppy gate and was devastated to learn her underlying diagnosis. “In the beginning, you just hear stage 4 and think, ‘Oh my God, my daughter has stage 4 cancer,’” Shawn told WCYB.

Chloe had been gearing up to finish middle school at Innovation Academy in Sullivan County, but her life was put on hold in order to prioritize recovery. The teen spent the next 18 months of her life living in St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis; her devoted father never left her side.

Chloe endured radiation, multiple rounds of chemotherapy, and eight procedures to mend damage to her esophagus. Shawn, 37, described his daughter’s fear in the early stages of her treatment but explained that the calming atmosphere of St. Jude assuaged Chloe’s worries.

“Chloe’s first question was, ‘Am I going to die?’” Shawn recalled, speaking to Yahoo Lifestyle. “But St. Jude gave her hope.”

“I was worried about something happening to the whole family because of me,” Chloe admitted, speaking to CNN. “I mean, like money problems, and all sorts of things like that. Unable to have the same house that I grew up in, having my dogs, having everything I love that isn’t allowed to be at St. Jude.”

Chloe’s family moved into housing provided by the hospital while Chloe rested, played video games, and kept up with her studies between treatments. The teen lost her hair and began using a wheelchair to cope with the days when she was too weak to walk.

But Chloe’s treatment worked.

On Dec. 10, 2019, after a long and arduous battle, Chloe and her family got the news they had been waiting so long for. Chloe’s cancer was finally in remission, and she would be able to go back to her home in Kingsport, Tennessee, in time for Christmas.

“Thank God my daughter has beat cancer. It’s just crazy,” Shawn exclaimed. “It’s been so long, and you lose hope along the way, but it’s finally over.”

“It’s surreal,” the teen’s father reflected. “You just can’t describe how happy you are. You kind of just keep going through the treatment and wonder when we’re gonna get there.”

Chloe had had to leave her “emotional link,” her two dogs Buu and Rollie, at home when she was first admitted to hospital. One of the things she is most looking forward to, Shawn shared, is being reunited with her dogs and reimmersing herself in the simple joys of life at home.

“She’s smiling now,” Shawn told Yahoo Lifestyle. “And she wants another dog for Christmas.”

Chloe and her family are making provisions for the teen to take bedrest for the remainder of the school year. But for Chloe, it’s a small price to pay for going home on Dec. 21.

“It’s crazy how much love and support you can receive,” Shawn told WCYB, speaking of the family’s community, who sent cards, donations, and prayers to the Cresses throughout Chloe’s ordeal.

“Always have hope,” he added, “because when it seems like everything’s at its worst, God can make miracles happen.”