Leni's Story
Amanda Hsaio’s daughter Leni had been a happy, healthy baby. But at age 3 months, something was clearly wrong. The question was, what? Amanda’s pediatrician didn’t know, so she sent them to NewYork-Presbyterian. A team of pediatric specialists discovered that Leni had a very rare form of leukemia and started treatment immediately. Thus began a year-long effort to save Leni’s life, a journey that included chemotherapy, a liver transplant and gall bladder surgery.
By the time Amanda was told she could bring Leni home, it had taken 10 doctors, 20 nurses and two NewYork-Presbyterian hospitals working together to get Leni healthy. Amanda jokes that she could be a tour guide for NewYork-Presbyterian at this point. The family wound up spending the Christmas holidays together in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, and Leni’s older sister still thinks that’s where Santa lives.