BIDDEFORD, Maine — A 22-month old girl from Biddeford continues to amaze doctors after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of childhood cancer a year ago.
Madison Charland has acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which affects white blood cells.
The disease is now in remission, providing hope the little girl will be cancer-free one day.
Watching Madison Charland push around a mini shopping cart, it's hard to imagine what the child has gone through in her very young life.
Madison was just 10 months old when she was diagnosed with the disease. For children so young, it requires aggressive treatment.
"I didn't leave the hospital for 60 days. I was there all day and all night," Sherri Charland, Madison's mom, explained.
It was a treatment that required continuous rounds of chemotherapy and weekly spinal injections.
Sherri Charland documented her little girl's brave fight, finding hope in Madison's smiles and giggles through the pain and exhaustion.
"She is going to look back on that and say, 'That was me.' And she is going to see how strong she was," the mother said with tears in her eyes.
Madison Charland finally came home after a bone marrow scan found no cancerous cells. She still undergoes monthly treatments at an outpatient clinic and takes antibiotic medication to fight off infections.
"Doctors monitor her blood work all the time. If anything turns up abnormal, they will have to change the treatment plan," Sherri said.
Thanks to speech and physical therapy, Madison Charland, who turns 2 years old in May, is catching up on missed milestones. She also loves showing off new skills like eating with a spoon.
Strangers to friends continue to rally around the little girl, raising tens of thousands of dollars with a GoFundMe to offset medical bills.
Madison's uncle, Scarborough firefighter and paramedic Jeremy Moreau has helped organize several Red Cross blood drives in honor of his niece, resulting in a massive outpouring of donations. There is another Red Cross Blood Drive planned in Madison Charland's honor. It will be held at the Scarborough Public Safety building on May 18.
She still faces another year of monthly chemo treatment. And while her family is still taking it one day at a time, there is new hope for the future.
Experts say 90-percent of children with the disease can be cured if the condition goes into remission following treatment.