For better, for worse: Cape Coral family navigates good times, bad with toddler's cancer

In what should be the happiest time of their lives, two Cape Coral police officers marrying this weekend must still confront their daughter's life-and-death battle with leukemia.

Kelsey Meadows, 33, and Nicholas Bezanson, 31, Cape Coral police officers, had their lives upended after learning their daughter Hayden, 2, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer of the bone marrow and blood in August.

"It's overwhelming at times," Bezanson said of the flurry of weeks planning a wedding while negotiating a life-altering diagnosis, treatment plans, and a normally sunny toddler.

Earlier this week, he wasn't certain if his daughter would be able to attend the wedding on Saturday.

"The doctors us we don't know what her conditions are gonna be at the time, we don't know if she's going to be there," he said. "Everything is unknown till the day it comes."

Their wedding vows will reflect their summer, with good times and bad. For as much as the diagnosis devastated the couple, they are seeing glimmers of joy in how the community has rallied around them and how Hayden is responding to treatment.

Hayden has been in and out of Golisano Children's Hospital in Fort Myers, where she started chemotherapy.

The little girl has since started losing her long wavy, blonde hair, has been gaining weight, and has been dealing with fluctuating moods.

Hayden's family helping other cancer fighters

Cape Coral police department is holding a toy drive for September for Childhood Cancer Awareness.

In their announcement, they noted Hayden's struggles and honored her by labeling this year's drive "Her Fight is Our Fight."

"I think it's great," Bezanson said. "So we're glad it gets to bring awareness and help other children and families at the same time."

At the end of the month, the department will take all the toys collected to Golisano Children's Hospital and donate them to kids with cancer.

They ask that donated toys must be new because the children receiving gifts are likely to have suppressed immune systems.

More recently, Hayden was admitted after she got a bacterial infection on her nose and eyelids.

"With her having no immune system anymore due to the chemo, it was a slow process, but they got rid of it," Bezanson said.

Hayden often happy, sometimes 'hating the world'

Since coming home, Hayden's mood has been fluctuating.

"It comes in waves," Bezanson said. "She's happy one second, hating the world the next second, and then she's laughing, and then she's crying."

The 2-year-old has also gained an appetite and with it, some weight.

Bezanson said her most frequently eaten foods are dino chicken nuggets and pizza with ranch and would sometimes crave food at 2 a.m.

The parents knew times like these likely after the diagnosis and said they were doing everything in their power to accommodate her needs.

"You just got to follow her lead at this point I guess," Bezanson said.

Hayden spends most of her time in the comfort of her parents. Laughing together, crying together, and playing together in her backyard playground equipment - swinging high in the sky with her parents supporting her.

Friends join the battle for Hayden

Their workplace and community have offered seemingly endless help to ease the great burden.

Both officers have been on family medical leave since August, which will last till the end of November.

Kayla Hearl, a fellow police officer, set up a GoFundMe for the family, looking to raise $100,000 to cover the child's chemo sessions and recovery. Since launching it, the family has raised more than $75,000.

Hayden's chances of remission are good

Acute lymphocytic leukemia is the most common type of cancer in children and occurs when a bone marrow cell develops changes in its genetic material or DNA and leads to immature cells that develop into leukemic white blood cells called lymphoblastic, which cannot function properly, according to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

About 3,000 people younger than 20 are found to have acute lymphocytic leukemia each year in the United States.

The 5-year survival rate for children with acute lymphocytic leukemia is about 90%, according to the American Cancer Society.

By early September, Golisano Children's Hospital treated 64 patients with acute lymphocytic leukemia.

Luis Zambrano is a Watchdog/Cape Coral reporter for The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. You can reach Luis at Lzambrano@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @Lz2official.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Cape Coral police couple receives massive support with toddler's cancer