Mom, 40, Diagnosed With Leukemia After Kids' Pediatrician Encouraged Her to See a Doctor Because She ‘Didn’t Look Right’

Laura Hendricks brought her kids to the doctor because they were sick — and a comment from their pediatrician led to a diagnosis of her own

A Chicago-area mom may have saved her life by taking her kids to the doctor.

In an interview published Wednesday,  Laura Hendricks, 40, told Today that she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) after a comment from her kids' pediatrician led her to make a doctor's appointment.

Hendricks said that in 2018, she had just come back from a trip to London when her kids — who were 5, 4 and 2 at the time — got sick. She took them to the pediatrician, and, while describing their symptoms, was confronted by the doctor about her own health.

“She really stopped me middle of the sentence and said, ‘What’s going on with you?’ and I was really taken aback that she was focusing on me rather than the kids,” Hendricks recalled to Today. “I said, ‘Well, I’m really tired and I think I’m coming down with what they’re coming down with.’”

Hendricks added, “She challenged me again and said, ‘No, your coloring doesn’t look right. Let me see your hands.' She looked at them and said, ‘I think you should have some bloodwork done.'”

The pediatrician and Hendricks’ mother, who accompanied her daughter during the visit, insisted that the woman see her own physician. 

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Hendricks got bloodwork done and initially, the results via automated email indicated that things were normal. However, the following day, three voicemails were left for Hendricks, with one of the messages saying that she needed to go to the emergency room. When she contacted her doctor, Hendricks was told that she need a blood transfusion for possible anemia.

At the hospital, Hendricks received an upsetting diagnosis: "[The doctors] said, 'You have leukemia, and you have an aggressive form of it called AML,'" she recalled, adding that her "whole world changed."

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AML, according to the Mayo Clinic, is a cancer of the blood and bone marrow affecting a group of white blood cells known as the myeloid cells. Among the symptoms associated with AML include fever, bone pain, lethargy and fatigue, shortness of breath, pale skin, frequent infections, easy bruising and unusual bleeding.

The American Cancer Society estimates that in the U.S. this year, there are 20,380 new cases of AML mostly in adults, with about 11,310 deaths from the disease also mostly in adults.

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Hendricks described her ordeal after the diagnosis, which necessitated a 7-month hospital stay and included a stem cell transplant. She went into remission and became cancer-free and has been cancer free for 5 years.

“I had that mentality that I was going to be a survivor,” she told Today. “What rooted me to survival … was my children and my husband and my family. Truly, I wanted to be their mom for the rest of their lives.”

Hendricks’ experience with cancer led to her and her husband, Brock, starting Luminaries, a non-profit that helps cancer survivors through self-care kits. “We really wanted to help support survivors,” Hendricks told Today. “That’s where we saw the [biggest] of lack of resources."

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