Cancer returns in toddler who overcame disease with identical twin as infant

Kendal Breyfogle had been in remission for 17 months when doctors discovered the leukemia had returned. (GoFundMe)

A Minnesota family who saw their identical twin daughters overcome acute myeloid leukemia (AML) as infants were devastated to learn in February that an incurable form of the disease had returned in one sister, leaving them scrambling to find a miracle cure. Kendal and Kenedi Breyfogle were just three months old when they began receiving chemotherapy treatment in 2015.

“Having infant twins is ridiculously crazy,” Abby Breyfogle, the girls’ mother, told KARE 11. “Having them in the hospital is even crazier.”

The girls, who also have a 4-year-old sister, received chemotherapy at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and while Kenedi has been in remission for 21 months, Kendal’s relapsed after 17 months. A post on the family’s Twice the Fight Facebook page said a bone marrow transplant planned for May had failed. She began an eight-day chemotherapy session in early June, but the family has been told that it will not offer a cure.

FAMILIES BLAME '13 REASONS WHY' FOR TEENS' SUICIDES

“Being told that your child is going to die in front of your eyes and there’s nothing you can do about it, is a special kind of hell,” Abby posted June 23 on the Twice the Fight page. “Suffocating is how Aaron described it, and I’d have to agree. I often question if I will survive this season. This awful nightmare. I wake up multiple times a night in a cold sweat with a pit in my stomach, believe it was all just a dream, only to quickly realize this is our reality.”

A GoFundMe page has been set up on the family’s behalf to keep supporters informed as well has help provide funds for a trip to Disney.

US PETS ARE BECOMING MORE OVERWEIGHT, STUDY SAYS

“While I sit here and watch Kendal run around and keep up with her sisters, I cannot believe (sic) sweet girl is filling up with cancer. You wouldn’t even know it when you look at her,” Abby continued in the June 23 post. “Although we know chances of finding a miracle are slim, we haven’t given up. Aaron and I spend our days, and some nights (because let’s be honest, I can’t sleep much) scouring the internet, wracking our brains, talking with other cancer parents, shooting emails to our team and other contacts we know, searching for something. For that needle in a haystack.”

She vowed that the family will continue searching for potential treatments while making memories Kendal.