Gunnar Peterson, a prominent personal trainer to celebrities and professional athletes, has asked his followers for “thoughts and prayers” after revealing his 4-year-old daughter, Monroe, has recently been diagnosed with cancer.
The fitness coach took to Instagram on Wednesday to recount his daughter’s battle with acute myeloid leukemia, a rare type of cancer that affects the bone marrow.
Alongside the post, which featured a carousel of photos of Monroe in the hospital, Mr. Peterson captioned that his family’s world had recently taken a “life-changing turn.”
“Our perfect 4 year old daughter, Monroe Vivian Peterson (MVP, see that?!) had a nagging cough, on and off fever, and an odd pallor to her for a few days last week. Typical kid stuff. Then my wife [Jess] noticed bruising on her legs which was odd since she hadn’t been very active because of the other symptoms, and she took her to the hospital,” he wrote.
The personal trainer explained that his daughter’s lab work came back four days later showing severe abnormalities.
“White blood cell count KO'd. Platelets in the toilet. Hemoglobin number lower than a soccer game final. Hematocrit front row on the struggle bus,” he listed.
“Needs immediate transfusion(s). Has to have bone marrow biopsy. Flow cytometry. Spinal tap(s). Chemotherapy. And finally, Make-A-Wish candidate. She has AML leukemia,” he shared. “How the [expletive] did we get here?!?!”
Outpouring of Support
Mr. Peterson’s candid Instagram post detailing his daughter’s current fight with cancer triggered an outpouring of supportive messages from celebrities and other notable figures.“We’re always here brother. Always. She will crush this, as she herself has declared,” commented actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
“G! Oh my heart!! I am so so so sorry for you and your family!! If there’s something I can say for certain, she’s a warrior just like her mommy and daddy!! G I’m here if you need anything! I love you and your family and im praying for you all!” penned Khloe Kardashian.
Her older sister, Kim Kardashian, shared: “We are all praying for you. We love you.” Additionally, the family’s matriarch, Kris Jenner, wrote: “My family and I are praying for your baby G we love you all so very much and lifting her up in the name of Jesus.”
Actress and television personality La La Anthony expressed a similar note of encouragement, writing: “Praying for you and the family hard G! She’s gonna crush this. Look who her dad is!!! She’s cut from a different cloth!!! Sending all the love and courage.”
Acute Myeloid Leukemia
According to Yale Medicine, leukemia relates to any cancer that develops in the body’s blood cells and can be distinguished as acute or chronic. The latter tends to develop slowly, with symptoms taking several years to appear, whereas the former is far more aggressive and progresses faster. Those with acute leukemia usually see symptoms arise within a few days or weeks.According to the American Cancer Society, acute myeloid leukemia, or AML, is a type of leukemia that begins in the bone marrow. However, it can quickly spread to the blood and many other parts of the body, such as the central nervous system, including the brain and spinal cord, lymph nodes, liver, and spleen.
AML, also known as acute myelogenous leukemia, most commonly develops from the white blood cells, the part of the body’s immune system tasked with helping to ward off infections. It accounts for about 1 percent of all cancers in the United States and is the second most common blood cancer in children, per the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Approximately 500 children are diagnosed with AML in the United States each year.
Treatment for childhood AML—which typically consists of several rounds of chemotherapy, blood and marrow transplantation, blood transfusions, and antibiotics—usually takes about six to nine months to complete.
The average five-year survival rate for children under the age of 15 suffering from AML is between 65 and 70 percent.
