Mother and daughter fight leukemia together

PENDLETON, Ore. - Bruce Winkler knows the definition of hell - watching the two people he loves most fight for their lives.

For the past three months, the Pendleton man has divided his time between his fiance, Tyna Baker, and their daughter, Emma, as they battle leukemia.

The family stays at the Ronald McDonald House in Portland while Baker and 3-year-old Emma get treatments at separate hospitals.

Baker heads to the Oregon Health & Science University hospital while Emma receives care at Randall Children's Hospital. Winkler goes back and forth, but spends the bulk of his time with his little girl.

"We're taking it day by day," he said

The couple sat in the living room of Winkler's grandmother's house in Athena on a recent morning during a respite from hospital life.

Baker, 26, lounged on the couch looking comfortable in her bare feet. An armband that covers a permanent line for the injection of chemotherapy drugs seemed the only clue of her cancer struggle as she laughed at the antics of little Emma, who danced in the living room.

Winkler beamed at his girls. The little family has learned to savor the carefree moments.

By that evening, though, Baker would be back in the hospital - this time St. Mary Medical Center in Walla Walla. It has been a hard road.

Her first leukemia diagnosis came in 2003 at age 13 after her health took a sudden dive.

Baker said cancer came out of nowhere like a switch had been flipped.

"I was going up the stairs at school and my legs felt really tired," she said. "My friend said my face looked green. I went home and laid on the couch."

When she tried to get up, her body crumpled. She had a fever of 104 degrees. That night, an emergency room doctor at St. Anthony Hospital diagnosed leukemia. The teenager started a regimen of chemo treatments, spinal taps and blood transfusions. A couple years later, she went into remission.

Leukemia returned at age 22, went into remission, then came back a year later when Emma was just a baby.

"Tyna was so sick," Winkler said. "For the next year-and-a-half or two years, we practically raised Emma out of a daybed at OHSU. She saw her mom get poked and prodded and all those tubes. That's all she knew. Maybe that's why she's so strong."

Winkler remains in awe of Baker's resilience.

"I've seen her doctors' jaws drop when they come in and read her lab reports. She's a medical marvel. She hangs on and fights. It's really unfortunate she's come out of remission this many times," he said.

In May, the couple noticed their toddler was feverish, lethargic and had achy legs and enlarged lymph nodes. After taking her in for blood work, they got the dreaded call - Emma had leukemia, too.

"The doctor said, 'You need to get her to the hospital emergency room right now,' " Baker recalled.

Emma was loaded on a plane bound for Portland. Winkler flew with Emma while Baker drove the family car. The little girl started treatment immediately.

Doctors now believe there may be a genetic component at play: Baker's mother died of leukemia and now she and her daughter both suffer from it.

"I felt absolutely horrible," Baker said, her voice trailing out. "It's easy to be strong for yourself, but it's hard to be strong when it's your child. I kind of fell apart."

They marveled at Emma, who charmed the medical staff and knew how to put on a blood pressure cuff. Within hours, she went into surgery for the insertion of her own special chemotherapy line and the removal of a bone sample. The little girl took it with courage.

"She's outgoing and strong," Winkler said. "She blows me away every day."

He and Baker have steeled Emma for the inevitable loss of her hair.

"We've told her she'll end up losing her hair the same as her mom," Winkler said, "but it'll grow back thicker and prettier."

Things are looking good for Emma, though she still has two more years of chemo treatments to ensure every lingering cancer cell is destroyed in an effort to avoid her mother's multiple relapses. Baker also faces more treatment and a likely therapy that involves reprogramming cells from her own immune system to fight the disease. She and Winkler remain steadfastly optimistic.

"Treatment has taken a toll on Emma," Winkler said. "She's not in the clear yet, but for the most part, the doctors are astonished with her."

The family's finances are in a shambles.

Winkler left his job a few years ago after a gas leak in their apartment gave him carbon monoxide poisoning and continuing headaches. He now co-owns an art glass business in Walla Walla called Glassography, but can only work between treatments.

"Financially, it's been terrible," Winkler said. "There's nothing more I want to do than to go back to my job, but it's just not possible right now."

When he needs some inspiration, however, he doesn't have to look farther than Baker.

"She's such a fighter," Winkler said. "She's amazed the doctors over and over."