On the days she didn’t need to be hospitalized while being treated for leukemia, 8-year-old Harper Harrell was able to go home and sleep in her own bed. Duke Children’s Hospital is just 1.9 miles from her family’s home in Durham.
During the nearly two and a half years of her treatment, Harper, now 12, traveled to the hospital more than 100 times for various reasons — chemotherapy, transfusions, MRIs, checkups. She spent more than 50 days hospitalized between receiving the diagnosis in October 2021 and finishing treatment in February 2024.
It became a ritual every night to give thanks for something positive, said Heather Hindin, Harper’s mom. Often, she said, they gave thanks for that short drive that allowed them to stay at home during treatment.
“To know that we could come home and rest our heads on our couch with our dogs and to be with my mom who was here helping … I feel like it made a significant difference for us in the successful completion of treatment, staying well, not just health-wise, but also kind of emotionally and mentally,” Hindin said…