By: Lafe Low, Red Cross writer

A cancer diagnosis is certainly unwelcome and unexpected news for anyone. And no parent is ever prepared to hear their child has been diagnosed with cancer—especially when that child is only two years old. That is just what Anna Harris-Spaulding and Josh Spaulding faced when they learned their daughter Charlotte was sick.

“In October of 2024, she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer,” says Charlotte’s mom Anna Harris-Spaulding. “She had a fairly large tumor removed, then had four rounds of chemo.” She explained how each round of chemotherapy consisted of a week of inpatient treatment at Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth (CHaD). Then each treatment was followed by two weeks at home recovering.

Charlotte’s mom and dad recognized the first clues that something wasn’t right prior to her diagnosis. “She started having some hormonal issues, and that was kind of weird,” Anna says. “What came about was early puberty symptoms and that was jarring. She was being treated for an ear infection and she continued having fevers. It was about week of going to the pediatrician every single day until finally the doctor consulted an endocrinologist and she ordered an ultrasound.”

That’s when Charlotte’s story became more complicated. “Part of her tumor was found,” says her mom. “Within 24 hours, she had [the ultrasound] at CHaD, all the scans, and all the labs. That was when they found the full tumor.”

Once the extent of Charlotte’s situation was clear, there was no time to waste. “A day later she was in surgery having it removed. Then we had to wait two weeks for the pathology results. Because it’s so rare, it wasn’t quite clear at first what exactly it was,” says Anna. “So surgery right away, then a couple of days later the port was placed, and chemo started. They were not messing around, and rightfully so.”

Ovarian cancer in toddlers is exceedingly rare, but it obviously does happen. “She was the 10th or 11th reported case worldwide,” Anna says.

While neither Charlotte’s mom nor dad had ever given much consideration to the need for blood and platelets, this certainly opened their eyes to the urgent and constant need. “In high school, I donated blood every so often. Other than that, the need was never something I thought about,” says her mom.

And they could see the immediate impact on Charlotte. When her blood and platelet count was down, it clearly affected her. “She felt so awful, she couldn’t really function,” she says. “She would just want to lay down, which was so hard because but she wanted to play.”

Thankfully, whenever Charlotte received blood and platelet treatments, she truly turned around. “The difference in her before and after was crazy to see,” says Anna. “She would get platelets and be bouncing off the walls again. It’s crazy how important it is.”

It’s one thing to know how cancer and chemotherapy work on an intellectual level. It’s another thing entirely to see its impact on a child. “You know the chemo is trying to attack the cancer, but you don’t really understand how it affects everything else,” says Charlotte’s dad Josh Spaulding. “It was definitely something we weren’t really aware of until we were in that situation.”

Cancer patients require a lot of blood transfusions as they go through treatment. “I think it was after fourth round of chemo, and her little body just did not have enough (blood),” remembers her mom.  “She got platelets and blood. That was really tough seeing a bag of blood hanging going into our kid, but it was so meaningful at same time. Thinking about someone sat in a chair and gave blood and now it’s saving my daughter. It really makes a difference.”

Charlotte’s mom was nursing her daughter and infant son Harrison at the time, so she was not eligible to donate blood. “If I could have given her the blood from my body I would have, but I couldn’t. It’s really hard to put into words how meaningful that is.”

With the help of the school nurse, Charlotte’s parents organized a blood drive at a school in Marlborough, New Hampshire, where Anna had worked. “It was really successful,” she says. “I couldn’t believe how many donors and how many first-time donors we had.”  

Anna had worked there as a paraprofessional for seven years. When Charlotte was diagnosed, the school community did not hesitate to help. “[Charlotte’s] diagnosis rocked the school staff,” she says. “They watched my pregnancy with her. They knew her from infancy.” Seeing Charlotte and her family endure her diagnosis and treatment inspired a lot of the school staff members to donate.

Their experience may even lead the Spauldings to host more blood drives. “When you go through it, you realize it’s quick and easy, even if you’re afraid of needles,” Anna says. “Kids fighting cancer are stuck with needles constantly. If they can do it, anyone can do it.”

And Charlotte’s mom points out that cancer can affect anyone. “Pediatric cancer is rare, but it’s not rare enough that it could never be a kid you know,” she says. “Donating is important to consider. Everyone is affected by cancer. And cancer patients need lot of blood.”

This experience has profoundly changed the way Anna and Josh think about the need for blood and how it can help those who need it. “It’s so important to these people and the families and helping them battle it,” says Charlotte’s dad. “If she didn’t have those platelets, we wouldn’t have been able to start her next round of treatment. It would have made fighting cancer so much more difficult.”

Thankfully, Charlotte’s chemo treatments and blood treatments did the trick. “She has been cancer free for six months now,” reports her relieved mom. “She had the surgery and removed the tumor, had all the chemo, and her port came out. We couldn’t get it out of her fast enough.”

And Charlotte is back to being herself, says her mom. “She was not herself for so long. Right before she was diagnosed, I told a friend I feel like she’s not even my kid. She was so different,” she recalls. “Now she’s back to being silly and goofy. She loves people, and has such a kind heart.”

This year, two million people in the U.S. will be diagnosed with cancer – that’s roughly three people every minute. Red blood cells must be transfused within 42 days of donation – and platelets, the clotting component of your blood, must be used within five days. That’s why new donors are always needed. Although 62% of Americans are eligible to donate blood, only three percent do. To learn more about blood donation and how you can help patients in need, visit www.RedCrossBlood.org.