A 6-year-old Pocatello girl described as ‘brave and full of life’ is battling a rare cancer

POCATELLO — A little girl is fighting a rare form of cancer and has been in and out of the hospital since the day after her sixth birthday. Her mother is asking for help and any support from the community through fundraising efforts.

Alyssa Werner and her only child, Violet Potter, live in Pocatello. Violet is known for being bubbly, funny, and full of life. She’s brave, confident, and takes care of people even when she’s sick.

“She’s a very selfless person. Everybody always tells me that she has the biggest personality they’ve ever seen in a child. She loves cracking jokes,” Werner said of her daughter.

Violet has had her share of health issues throughout her life. For example, she’s had unexplained allergic reactions that have been very itchy. Her mom first thought it was severe cat allergies or some fabric she was wearing. She’s also had high fevers that would reach 104 degrees.

But it wasn’t until last summer, around June, that she showed symptoms that eventually led to a cancer diagnosis.

“She had watery eyes, and she would blink really hard out of nowhere. I thought it was allergies because it was summertime. I made an appointment, and doctors thought that she had pink eye,” Werner said.

Violet received treatment for pink eye, but it didn’t seem to work. It progressed. It looked like she had pus coming out of her tear duct in one of her eyes.

“I took her to another appointment with the ENT, and they said that she probably has a clogged tear duct or something like that. They gave her more steroid eye drops, and that didn’t really seem to work either. It just kind of got worse,” Werner explained.

Then, Violet developed a lump on her face. Werner took her to her primary care doctor in Pocatello.

“He looked at it and then said that this could possibly be a cancer because of how hard it was, and then we got the CT scan done on Jan. 9, the day after her birthday,” she said.

Her daughter was admitted to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah, that day.

“They had admitted her thinking that she had a type of RMS sarcoma cancer, but it turned out to be the B-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma after a biopsy,” Werner said.

Violet was diagnosed with cancer on Jan. 11. Lymphoblastic lymphoma is a type of blood cancer. Lymphoma occurs in the lymphatic system, part of the immune system that includes the lymph nodes. Some symptoms include rashes, itchy skin, unexplained fever, fatigue, and more, according to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

“Cancer was a whirlwind for our family,” Werner said after learning about the diagnosis.

Cancer has run in Werner’s family. However, the one that her daughter has been diagnosed with is completely new to her.

“A lot of my family members have cancer, have had cancer, or have passed away from cancer. My aunt passed away at 25 to colorectal cancer. So this event is kind of triggering for my family. And my nana (grandma) is actually a five-time cancer survivor,” Werner said.

Her grandma has had colon, ovarian, thyroid, stomach and skin cancer. She has Lynch syndrome, which makes her body create cancers.

Violet has been in chemotherapy treatments since her diagnosis. She has gone to Primary Children’s Hospital every Friday. She’s in kindergarten but has essentially missed half of the school year.

“The ups and downs are very real. She’s very anxious anytime we’re at the doctors or needles are involved, so she’s developed some anxiety, but as soon as we’re home, she’s just herself,” Werner said.

The single mom created a GoFundMe to raise donations that will go towards her daughter’s medical bills and well-being. She is hoping for some help from the community. The goal is $10,000. As of Thursday afternoon, more than $7,700 has been raised.

“Since I had to quit my job, which I worked really hard to get, I think this is kind of a cry for help,” she said.

The cancer diagnosis has broken her family and friends’ hearts. She wrote on the GoFundMe that her daughter is a fighter and the bravest person that she knows.