Katie Joyce returns to St. Jude's Nov. 4
Katie Joyce, 7, is almost done with her first round of chemotherapy and is scheduled to return to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital Nov. 4.
Joyce is currently involved in a trial treatment, combining two different types of chemotherapy that have been used for years for different reasons.
"They are now combining them and using them together to see how well they will work," Kathyrn Joyce said. "She's done really well; she goes to school until 1:15 p.m. She gets tired easily, but all that she's going through, she's doing very well. She's a brave, strong little trooper."
Recent lab work showed things looked good, but she had a slightly elevated liver count. She is taking oral chemotherapy medicine nightly.
She will have analysis done Nov. 4 to make sure the medicine is working.
Joyce, 7, recently was diagnosed with an inoperable tumor on her brain stem. She battled cancer before when she was diagnosed with a brain tumor, called an ependymoma, when she was 2.
The Joyce family recently spent a week in Orlando on a trip provided by the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Katie Joyce's wish for Disney adventure granted
Now she is involved in a trial treatment at St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital.
During her treatment for ependymoma, Joyce underwent brain surgery at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, followed by 33 rounds of radiation at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. She had to learn to walk again, had to receive physical therapy and had to undergo countless tests and procedures before beating that round of cancer.
Recently though, the family learned Joyce has another brain tumor — this is one inoperable and on the brain stem.
That prompted Sadie Robertson, of "Duck Dynasty" and "Dancing With the Stars," to post a prayer request for Katie.
"The only thing that can fix this is if we storm the gates of Heaven," Roberston wrote, and the post has brought in comments and prayers from fans near and far.
If the treatment continues to kill the cancer cells, Joyce will need to continue it for the next two years.
Her parents continue to ask for prayers for Katie.
"We are so blessed to be in this community. People have done so much for us and when she sees people wearing the "Team Katie" T-Shirt, she gets excited. We could not have gotten through this without the community's support. It's been overwhelming and it's really gotten us through all of this," Kathryn Joyce said.