Cincinnati Bengals player Devon Still took to social media to ask his followers for prayers for his 5-year-old daughter Leah Still, who suffered a setback in her cancer ordeal.
Leah experience complications after going into the hospital on May 5th for a stem cell transplant.
Doctors hope the stem cell transplant will be effective so her bone marrow can produce new red blood cells. The process involves 4-6 weeks of high dose chemotherapy to destroy Leah’s diseased bone marrow cells to prepare her for the new stem cells. During that time she is at highest risk for a potentially deadly infection.
On Friday, Still posted an image of himself and Leah along with the message that Leah had “hit a pretty serious complication,” with chemotherapy.
I need some prayers sent up for Leah tonight! We hit a pretty serious complication from the stem cell transplant called VOD. They caught it early so hopefully it gives the doctors a better chance of stopping it from getting aggressive. As you can imagine our minds are all over the place but we’re going to try and remain positive! #LeahStrong #WaitingForTheDayEverythingReturnsToNormal
Leah was diagnosed with childhood cancer of the blood last year. Since that time she has become the poster girl for childhood cancer. The Bengals donated $1.3 million to help pay Leah’s mounting medical bills. The public has also opened their purses and wallets to donate money for Leah.
Still signed a one-year contract with the Bengals in March. The team waived him in 2014 but re-signed him so he could get health insurance for Leah.
The team allows Still to miss practice so he can be with Leah in Cincinatti where she is getting her cancer treatments.
On Saturday, Still posted a new Instagram image of a tattoo he got in tribute to Leah.
