- November 23, 2024
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Eleven-year-old softball player Esperanza “Essie” Bass’ world changed Feb. 28, after she was diagnosed with leukemia.
On Feb. 24, a normal "knee pop" wouldn’t pop for Essie. As she complained to her mother, Shannon Gutierrez, about it, they’d thought nothing of it.
After two days and Essie was still complaining of pain, Gutierrez took her daughter to Florida Hospital Flagler's emergency room for an X-ray. With no answers, the emergency room doctor suggested a visit to her pediatrician, suggesting Bass may have a problem with her meniscus.
Following her gut feeling, Gutierrez took her daughter to Wolfson Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville. After a second round of blood work, answers were finally provided.
“Your daughter is being admitted for symptoms of cancer,” the doctor told them.
Gutierrez was in shock. “I never thought anything cancer,” she recalled.
The next morning, Essie was told she has chronic myeloid leukemia, a rare blood-cell cancer that begins in the bone barrow, usually found in adults ages 35-64.
Essie’s blood count was 357,000; someone without CML’s blood count would be 10,000.
Gutierrez believes God put swelling on Essie's knee so she could be diagnosed.
The family of eight has stayed strong through this unexpected journey. “It’s been rough, but we’ve held it together,” said Gutierrez.
Essie goes every week for blood work, every three months for bone barrow treatments and once a day for chemotherapy and other treatments.
Although this is early on in her journey, it will be a lifetime treatment for Essie.
Through it all, the family has the community to thank. A softball tournament last month raised $3,200, which helps with transportation and unexpected hospital trips. During the school year at Rymfire Elementary, the school had a donation box for orange #Essiestrong T-shirts. Thursdays became Essie Day, and most of the school would wear orange just for her. A GoFundMe account was also started by family friend Kelly Garrison.
