Amy McHugh’s 4-year-old daughter, Emily Coughlin, was a typical kid – playful and inquisitive – until May 2009, when she started complaining of knee pain.
After a visit to the pediatrician, and a misdiagnosis of Lyme disease, the family ended up at Boston Children’s Hospital, where they received a devastating diagnosis: Emily had high-risk neuroblastoma, a cancerous tumor that begins in the nerve tissue of young children.
In the latest episode of Voices: Then and Now, McHugh recounts the experience of watching her daughter go through two stem cell transplants, chemotherapy, and radiation, and how these treatments changed their family dynamic. She is also joined by her husband, Shane, and Emily and her sister, Isabelle, to talk about how they are doing now – and how Dana-Farber still plays a role in their lives.
In the second season of our Voices podcast series, we invite Dana-Farber patients to share their experiences being diagnosed with and treated for cancer, and discuss with a caregiver how the experience shaped them, how they are doing now, and what advice they have for other patients. Visit Dana-Farber’s podcast page for more information on other cancer podcast series.