Dominique is a little girl that can light up an entire room. She is part scientist, part performer, a natural-born comedian, and can often be heard providing a first-hand narration of her life in the moment. She loves circus arts, piano, musical theatre, swimming, cycling and anything involving crafts. She is inquisitive and endlessly curious, full of joy, and always looking for connection. Whether she is testing out a hypothesis or playing a practical joke, she is the perfect mix of humour, wonder and wisdom beyond her years.
Her kindness is quiet but constant, and she always tries to ensure that everyone feels included and loved. Dominique radiates love and kindness, but in the Spring of 2024, alarming health issues began to surface. These unexpected and persistent pains were stealing her joy-filled spirit and becoming increasingly harder to explain.
It all began with nosebleeds. Then came the pain. First in her ribs, then her shoulder, and then her abdomen. The discomfort moved around her body with no clear explanation, and despite numerous visits to emergency rooms and doctor’s offices, they were continuously dismissed as being viral. Her symptoms kept increasing in intensity and location, and by Labour Day, she became so weak at an outdoor event that she nearly passed out. Her spleen was enlarged, she had swollen lymph nodes, and a very high white blood cell count, but was still dismissed as viral.
Her parents wanted answers, and sadly, none were given.
By the Fall, Dominique was in visible distress. Her appetite had disappeared, and she cried constantly from the pain. She had lost 12 pounds and her one-of-a-kind spark. The bright, energetic little girl that would dance across the room, now lay still by an illness no one could explain.
The night before she was finally admitted, her Mother, Linda, gathered her in her arms at 2 a.m. and took her to SickKids refusing to leave until they had answers. Dominique was so weak and in pain that she could barely open her mouth to take the pain medications prior to leaving for the hospital.
When the answers came, Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, the diagnosis hit like a tidal wave.
“I screamed,” Linda recalls. “I was so angry. Angry that we’d been dismissed so many times. Angry that I hadn’t done more. And under it all, a kind of guilt that you can’t put into words. What did I do wrong? How did this happen? Your mind races. It defies logic.”
For Dominique, finally having a diagnosis was marked by the beginning of an intense and complex medical journey. This inquisitive little girl was thrown into a world of unknowns. Since her leukemia was deemed a high-risk subtype, her treatment plan reflected that. Chemotherapy came hard and fast. Her small body struggled to recover between cycles, and her care team constantly adjusted her protocol to balance the risks associated with the adverse reactions, which extended the already complicate and intense treatment protocol.
There were scary allergic reactions to medications, extreme reactions to blood transfusions, and meningitis-like IVIG. The steroids Dominique was prescribed triggered medication-induced diabetes, which meant that in addition to her intense treatment protocol, she now had to begin insulin injections three times a day.
As with so many oncology families, Dominique’s family’s life was turned into a vicious cycle of uncertainty: blood draws, side effects, infections, fevers, hospital stays, waiting, hoping, and more waiting. Her initial 12-month treatment plan was extended by four months due to the complications and setbacks, and after that she now faces two additional years of maintenance chemotherapy.
Even during this unimaginable journey, Dominique never lost her spark. Some days were impossibly hard, but through it all, she still smiled. Her community of friends, relatives, classmates, colleagues, neighbours, and even complete strangers, stepped forward to support her family as they navigated these difficult days. Her treatment protocol is expected to span three years in total.
Today, Dominique is in active treatment, but she is standing tall. She is resilient, hilarious, deeply kind, and as inquisitive as ever. She continues to teach those around her about courage and compassion. Her strength through this all is truly inspiring – the kind that takes your breath away. A true hero.
We hope that this inquisitive little girl will continue to find answers to all of life’s questions and continue to share her infectious joy with all who are lucky enough to know her.