CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) – Chloe Rochester is just five years old and battling terminal cancer for the second time in her life at UVA Children’s Hospital.

Chloe’s story begins when she was just three years old. She found out she had cancer, beat it, but a few months later the cancer returned.

“Whether this miracle is just because of the right medication and we are able to do it, or whether God is just something we can’t explain or understand, we don’t care. We just want her to be healed,” said Chloe’s father, Isaac Rochester.

Chloe’s parents, Angela and Isaac, say they took their daughter to UVA in February 2023 because they suspected appendicitis, but instead they got news no parent wants to hear.

“Imaging showed that wasn’t the case. We had a huge mass… a Wilms tumor,” said Isaac Rochester.

After surgery to remove the tumor and several rounds of treatment, Chloe’s scans came back clear. The family was actually able to leave the hospital for a short time until Chloe began to experience pain again.

“It actually started the day we left for vacation,” Isaac Rochester said. “We were going to take her to Ocean City. So we drove there. She started acting like she was uncomfortable, so we drove all night and canceled the vacation. Drove here.”

The Rochesters say they discovered that a tumor inside Chloe’s body had essentially burst like an abscess and the cancer cells had spread throughout her abdomen.

“Wilms can… it spreads to the lungs first. So far her lungs are clear, but in her abdomen we have two large tumors, and then they said there are also smaller tumors that want to start in her abdomen,” said Angela Rochester.

The plan now is to find a way to shrink the tumors so that they can eventually be removed.

“We would like to perform surgery. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen because the tumors aren’t responding the way we’d like,” said Isaac Rochester.

As the family waits and tries to find different treatment options, they are grateful for the support they have received. They have been given housing through the Yellow Door Foundation and their team at UVA has helped ease the burden.

“When you come in, you initially feel like you’re a patient and you’re being cared for by medical professionals. But when you do something like this for a year and a half, you become part of a team. You almost become like a family,” said Isaac Rochester.

In addition, family and friends have also come together to show the Rochesters that they are not alone in this fight. Some have set up Amazon registries, GoFundMe campaigns and even fundraisers to help with expenses.

“It was, it’s unbelievable. I mean, we never expected such a reaction from people,” said Angela Rochester.

“To see that there are really, really great people out there who care about people and want to send love to someone you don’t even know is, I think, pretty incredible,” said Isaac Rochester.

The Rochester family says it is their daughter’s positive attitude that motivates them even on the worst days.

“She has this incredible grace. And no matter how bad the day is, you know, how bad her pain is or whatever side effects she’s having, she has the ability to just get through it,” Isaac Rochester said.

“She was always encouraging. Yes, that’s, I think that’s one of her gifts, she encourages people. She knows what to say to cheer people up,” Angela Rochester said.

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