Subway restaurant manager shares how Children’s Miracle Network member hospital brought her peace of mind

It wasn’t until six months later, during Kinzley’s first-year checkup, that the doctors at Cook Children’s Medical Center had a different diagnosis – the node could be cancerous and would need to be removed.

“They were explaining the procedure and, in my head, I instantly just went from zero to a hundred,” Danielle said. “There was the chance things could go wrong, from having my seven-month-old daughter needing to be put under to do the procedure, to the aftermath. Would her hair grow back? Would the node come back if we remove it?”

A procedure like this has a lot of financial costs as well, which can add stress for families already going through a lot. Luckily, thanks to fundraising, Cook Children’s had the funding to cover the costs Danielle would have had to pay out of pocket.

“I was able to be in the mind space to take care of her afterward,” she said. “I didn’t have to worry about how I was going to pay for things she needed, and it was a huge relief.”

Kinzley’s procedure went smoothly, and she has since grown into a “rambunctious” eight-year-old.

Danielle has worked at Love’s for six years and currently leads the restaurant team at Love’s 609 in Denton, Texas. For those six years, the CMN campaign has given her the opportunity to help people in the same situation she was in. Kinzley and her older sister also look forward to helping at the CMN car wash and have participated in a CMN Hospitals Dance Marathon.

“Seeing all the team member’s kids from each store come out and help, they get so excited to just be involved with it,” Danielle said. “They know that they’re helping other kids and they go above and beyond just like we will. It’s my favorite thing to see.”