A big move to California, then a leukemia diagnosis. Meet All-Star Nora.

“Money is just money; you can’t put a price on someone’s health. Sometimes in life, you have to ask for help. It’s OK to ask for help, and one day we can give back.” -All-star Nora’s dad, Kyle.

Kyle and Kayla had just moved far away from family and the support that they could provide when they received the devastating news: Their one-year-old daughter, Nora, had lymphoblastic leukemia.

Kyle had just received his real estate license and had a new job lined up in California. Kayla had just returned to nursing after having back surgery to fix a pinched nerve. They were looking forward and excited about their future.

Those plans changed overnight after Nora started getting bad bruises, tiny red dots on her skin, which would later come to be known as petechiae, and nosebleeds: signs of cancer. Kyle reflected on the day their baby was diagnosed.

“I had been out for a run, with Nora’s brother in the stroller,” he said. “I got home, and Kayla was crying in the car in the driveway. We both cried a lot that first week. We felt like we had been hit by lightning, a shock wave, and we were overcome with emotion.”

Kayla drove right away to the children’s hospital 100 miles away to get Nora’s port placed that night. Treatment started the next day. 

“I was alone with my son,” Kyle said. “I was very scared. I did not know what to expect, and as a dad, I couldn’t bear to see her suffer. I wanted to take the pain. My duty is to make sure my kids are happy and healthy, and I felt helpless and unable to do anything to help my baby girl.”

Kayla and Nora spent a whole month in the hospital. Kyle and her brother were able to visit a couple of times, but once flu season started, child visitors were banned from the hospital. While Nora received treatment, her development regressed. She couldn’t walk and would only sleep with her mom, not in her crib. Thankfully, she was breastfeeding, and that helped calm her.

Kayla had to take unpaid leave from her job to care for Nora. The family faced no income for the next six months. They had already exhausted their savings to help pay for Kayla’s back surgery just months before Nora’s diagnosis. At the same time, one of their vehicles had to be junked, and the family had to make do with just one car.

Navigating Nora’s diagnosis and health, their financials, and time apart put strain on Kyle and Kayla. They don’t get to spend time together, go to movies, or go out to eat together.

“We feel like a shadow of our former selves,” he said. “But I told Kayla, it’s only temporary, it’s just going to be a blip on the radar 20 years from now.”

He said running helps his mental health, and he tries to encourage Kayla to take breaks so she can go for a walk or go to yoga.

“We have our good days and bad days,” Kyle said. “We do a good job of picking ourselves up, and we are hoping that, after this summer, the worst will be behind us.”

Nora came home right before Halloween of 2024 after being declared in remission. 

“Her initial treatment was a success,” Kyle said. “She had to go back, though, if she got a fever, and she had lost a lot of weight because she wasn’t eating because of the treatment. We were worried about her, but we made a big effort to fatten her up on things like smoothies because her teeth also hurt.”  

After the initial intensive stage of treatment in-hospital, she moved into a weekly treatment schedule at two of the best children’s hospitals in the world, Kyle said. Both are a couple of hours away. 

"We want to be off work with her and her brother, and we can’t move across the country to stay with family; she needs to be at those hospitals, so here we are in California, which is very expensive, and we have no income,” Kyle said. 

A friend has offered to lend them his car to help ease the burden of being a one-car family. 

“We don’t care about work, the car, and material things; the only priority is to keep the kids happy and healthy,” Kyle said. “But we want to be together for this next round of treatment, and so we will rent an Airbnb near the hospital when the lease on our house ends and then move back in on September 1.”

Receiving financial support so families can be together during this time is why Pinky Swear Foundation exists.

The family received a $200 gift card and letters of encouragement through the Pinky Swear Orange Envelope Program. That helped pay for groceries and snacks.

“Food was one less thing to worry about,” Kyle said. “The kids loved opening the envelope and the letter.”

Then the family received a $500 gas and grocery gift card.

“It was amazing how quickly Pinky Swear Foundation was able to provide immediate assistance. They were one of the first foundations that were able to help. The care package with the Orange Envelope brought a little bit of joy to the kids and put food on the table when money was difficult to come by,” Kyle explained.

Kyle said the help they get goes a long way.

“We are very minimalist; we live in a tiny cottage, and we keep it tight-knit with things like toys,” Kyle said. “When we receive assistance from a foundation, we are at the point where we use the funds right away.” 

Kayla plans to return to work part-time in September of 2025. Kyle said he would like to be the main provider. He wants to be successful and make his parents proud, but appreciates the time he has been given to spend with his children.

“The time I have had with the kids is invaluable,” he said.

Life should provide some more relief when Nora begins the maintenance phase of her treatment in November 2025. Treatments will go from monthly to once every three months until January 2027.

With Kayla’s return to work this fall, Nora’s brother will start preschool.

For a family navigating childhood cancer, Nora and her family hope to resume some of her favorite activities. She loves her hammock, her splash pad, walking to the beach, dance parties, reading, drawing, and building forts with her brother. When she’s home, Nora and her brother spend as much time as they can outside, listening to birds and looking at flowers.

“Money is just money; you can’t put a price on someone’s health,” Kyle said. “I told Kayla sometimes in life you have to ask for help. It’s OK to ask for help, and one day we can give back.”