The community, especially the Lemont Fire Department, has rallied around Zepplyn, diagnosed at just 8 months old.
Andrea Earnest, Patch Staff
|Updated Wed, May 7, 2025 at 6:00 pm CT
LEMONT, IL — After two years, 2-year-old Lemont resident Zepplyn rang the bell on April 10, ending the chemotherapy treatment that's lasted most of her life.
Zepplyn was diagnosed with infantile mixed-phenotype acute leukemia in April 2023, when she was just eight months old, her mom, Stephanie Pounders told Patch.
In a twist of fate, Stephanie said that two weeks before Zepplyn's diagnosis, she saw a video on TikTok that showed signs of childhood leukemia, including the symptom of petechiae, which is a type of rash.
Stephanie said she got Zepplyn up from her nap one day and saw the rash all over her body.
"It was like little freckles," she said. Remembering the video, she called her fiancé, Francis, into the room and started to panic.
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"I called the pediatrician and mentioned petechiae, and they said to go to the emergency room," she recalled. After some pushback at the emergency room, Stephanie pushed for blood work for her child, and the tests quickly showed that something was wrong.
After the first test, they quickly came back for more blood work, and Zepplyn was transferred to Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago.
"We didn't get there until midnight," Stephanie said. "They didn't tell us why, or what, or who."
More test were done, and by 6 a.m. the next morning, the family received Zepplyn's diagnosis.
While leukemia is the most common cancer in children and teens, according to the American Cancer Society, Zepplyn's diagnosis was a little different.
Due to her age, she had a diagnosis of infant leukemia, which is harder to treat, Stephanie said. Zepplyn also had a mixed-phenotype diagnosis.
"There are two types of leukemia, and two types of treatment," Stephanie said. The two types are acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) and acute myeloid leukemia (ALM). ALL is the more common of the two types.
Because of her age, the mixed phenotype, and a genetic mutation, Zepplyn's case was also considered "triple high-risk."
"ALL is the lesser evil," Stephanie said. "ALM is shorter [treatment], but more intense."
Immediately after her diagnosis, the battle began.
"We were put in in-patient for three weeks," Stephanie said. The family's life was upended, with Stephanie and Francis switching off turns in the hospital, while also balancing work and Zepplyn's sister, Zaela, who was 2 at the time.
The first three and a half weeks were "induction," and Zepplyn was "loaded up with steroids and chemotherapy," Stephanie said.
After this 3-week period, Zepplyn was technically in remission, Stephanie said; however, treatment would continue for the next two years until her last chemotherapy pill on April 6.
As part of her treatment, Zepplyn also underwent an immunotherapy clinical trial, which has happily returned high chances of preventing relapse. However, Zepplyn's battle for the past two years was not without difficulties, including the fact that she was so young.
"That's the crappy part," Stephanie said. "She wasn't able to tell us when she wasn't feeling good. She couldn't tell us when she was nauseous. We had to pick up on a lot of cues, and eventually learn to read her cues."
When she was first diagnosed at eight months, Zepplyn had just started to crawl, Stephanie said. Because of her hospitalization, she stopped, and had to relearn.
The same process happened when she started walking. A hospitalization disrupted the process, and Zepplyn had to relearn.
Her age was just one challenge in her treatment. Zepplyn also underwent 11 spinal taps, faced blood infections, sepsis and pneumonia, and weeks of hospital stays.
In late 2023, during Zepplyn's high-dose chemotherapy treatment, the family was in the hospital every other week for 10 days at a time. Zepplyn was in the hospital for Thanksgiving 2023 due to a blood infection; and on steroid treatment for Christmas 2023.
Her treatment continued, and "maintenance" chemotherapy began in 2024, Stephanie said.
"Maintenance is supposed to be simple. You only go once a month," Stephanie said. "Zepplyn ended up getting really sick in August."
The family was again in and out of the hospital for weeks, and Zepplyn contracted pneumonia.
"Her oxygen was at 60," Stephanie said. "We got put in the PICU [pediatric intensive care unit], and she was on high-flow oxygen."
"We were in the PICU for four days. And she bounced back, like she always does," Stephanie said.
After that, things were "fairly normal," Stephanie said. In March 2025, Zepplyn got her port out, and took her last chemotherapy pill on April 6, exactly two years after her diagnosis. On April 10, she rang the bell, and her friends, family and supporters threw a celebration on April 13.
Throughout the treatments and hospital stays, there was one shining light in Zepplyn's journey: the help the family received from the Lemont community.
"We are so thankful for all the love and support that people gave," Stephanie said. Within days of Zepplyn's diagnosis, businesses and organizations started to reach out asking how they could help.
Next Mex held their first fundraiser, Stephanie recalled. People immediately dropped off 30 or 40 gift baskets; the EllieStrong Foundation gave a check to help the family cover bills and rent.
Matt's BBQ gave a portion of their Mother's Day package sales; Tap House Grill fed the family with their own Mother's Day package. Rosebud, where Stephanie works, held a fundraiser. Meal trains were started for the family; Amazon wishlists were completely fulfilled. The Hope and Friendship Foundation did the family's yard work.
One of the biggest supporters of the family was the Lemont Fire Protection District through Project Fire Buddies.
"The fire department was the light in our lives throughout all of this," Stephanie said. The fire district would show up for not just for Zepplyn's birthday, but her sister, Zaela's, too.
Stephanie had just purchased a swing set before Zepplyn's diagnosis. The fire district put it together.
"One time I posted that we needed smart water to use for formula," Stephanie said. "The fire department showed up with 20 cases."
So, what's next for Zepplyn and her family? Although treatment has finished, monitoring will still continue for the now 2-year-old, who turns 3 this summer.
"I'm taking it one year at a time," Stephanie said. For the next year, Zepplyn will go every two months and get blood work.
"You're told all these things when you start treatment, about different delays," Stephanie said. Zepplyn is thriving; she loves her dance class and playing with her sister.
"She is literally the most stubborn, smart, independent 2-year-old," Stephanie said. "She's a spitfire."