- Hodgkin Lymphoma





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Learn More »McKenzie loves gymnastics, Minecraft, Roblox, and playing with her friends and family. She is also big prankster – while in the hospital, she would often silly string her nurses and doctors!
On Labor Day of 2024, after returning from a family trip to Maryland, McKenzie asked her mom to “please not touch” her neck because it hurt during a bath. It looked swollen, but her only other symptom was itchiness. The next morning, her mom took her to the doctor, where they put her on an antibiotic thinking it might just be an infection. After the first dose, McKenzie immediately got sick. A few hours later she was running a fever. Changing the antibiotic helped with the sickness, but the fever would not leave.
After a week, McKenzie returned to the doctor for a follow-up. She had an X-ray and blood work done and was referred to an oncologist who put her on another antibiotic. There were no changes even a week after that, so McKenzie had a CT scan. This found a mass in her neck and chest wall. A biopsy of a large amount of lymph nodes came back with the results: McKenzie had Stage II Hodgkins lymphoma.
McKenzie went to Little Rock for PET scans which revealed the cancer was also in her spleen and abdominal area. This bumped her to Stage III. And things did not get easier.
McKenzie was scheduled to have a port put in, but a few weeks before starting her cancer treatments, she woke up in the middle of the night to tell her parents that her heart was racing. Her temperature was 102, so her mom gave her some medication and took her to the hospital. She was immediately taken back to the trauma center as she had a heart rate of 240. There, she was also diagnosed with Supraventricular Tachycardia (SVT).
McKenzie could finally start her 15-week treatment plan. She had a three-day hospital stay for chemotherapy each day, then outpatient chemo bookended by clinic visits and labs. At the end of the three-day chemo treatments, McKenzie would get a shot that would enhance her bone marrow but it took 10 days for that to activate. By day eight of that shot, she was back in the hospital with a fever and low blood counts and would have to stay a couple days for her levels to come up. There would be a spike in her counts on day 10 of that shot. But after treatments were completed and her counts came back up, she braved two heart procedures to fix her SVT. Today, McKenzie has reached remission!
Because of her attitude during everything she’s been through, McKenzie is her mom Amanda’s hero. “With everything she had to go through – missing school, not being able to join in on birthday parties, or just not being able to be that normal kid – this girl stayed positive no matter what was thrown at her,” said Amanda. “Her positive smile and attitude truly helped me get through it. I think I was more scared and worried than she was. She is absolutely my hero.”
To others who may also be facing a childhood cancer diagnosis, Amanda says, “As hard as it is, try to stay positive. Lots and lots of prayers. Lean on your support team. Find cancer mom groups in your area.” She also tried supporting McKenzie’s diet by limiting sugar intake each day and giving her high protein foods plus lots of fresh fruits. She hopes that McKenzie will continue to be cancer free and be able to support other kids in their journey.
Amanda also loves that Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation raises money to help support childhood cancer research to help find ways to cure this nasty disease. “I hope that one day there will be a cure and/or shorter treatment plans,” she said.
Information provided by Amanda S., McKenzie’s mom
Updated June 2025
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