POLSON — It was a normal Wednesday afternoon that Bella Allred, a 4-year-old Polson girl, went to the doctor’s office after having some stomach problems.

By 9 p.m., nothing was normal.

After having her blood drawn for regular tests at the doctor’s office, Bella was diagnosed with lymphoblastic leukemia. The next morning, she was rushed to a hospital in Spokane where she has been treated since Aug. 21.

“It was such an unbelievable surprise when we found out,” commented Lori Allred, Bella’s grandmother. “The doctor came to the house that evening to tell us, and the next morning they were off to the hospital.”

Allred lives on the same property as her son, Jake and his family; she and her husband, Dan, have stayed in Polson to take care of things while Bella and her parents are away.

“It’s been very difficult since they’ve been away. They live right behind us and we do everything together; we eat together and watch the kids [Bella and her sister, Jasmyne] twice a week. We’re lost without them,” said Allred.

While Lori Allred has stayed in Polson to take care of the Allred home, Bella has been receiving chemotherapy treatments in Spokane. Her parents, Jake and Jessica, have been by her side constantly.

She is well-supported by a family that has felt its share of tragedy. Only approximately one month before Bella’s diagnosis, her cousin, Bridger Stupack, was diagnosed with Burkitt’s lymphoma, and was admitted into a hospital in Seattle. The emotional and financial strain on the entire family has proven cumbersome.

“It’s difficult, but it’s doable. We just pray, and ask everyone else to pray,” said  Lori Allred.

However, for Bella, things may be looking up. According to the most recent update from her parents, no cancer cells were found in her blood upon her last test. She tested into the “low-risk category.”

Despite the fact that the type of leukemia with which she was diagnosed required two years and three months of treatment, she now has a 95 percent chance of no relapse following her treatment. If she continues to respond well to chemotherapy, she will only have to stay full-time in Spokane for another month before she will be allowed to return home. She will still have to return to Spokane for appointments every ten days.

For now, however, the Allred family will live in the Ronald McDonald house, where they were recently admitted after getting to leave the hospital.

“Bella loves the outside, and when she got to go out a few days ago, she was so happy,” said Lori Allred. “She was excited just to smell the fresh air, and told her mom that it ‘smelled good.’”

According to her grandmother, Bella loves to play outside, and help her father drive the tractor.

“She loves to play outside in the mud and dirt, and she sings when she plays,” said Allred. “She loves flowers, but she can’t have them because of some of the regulations at the hospital.”

For the time being, the little girl, affectionately called Boo, will have to leave some of those things behind. Yet, according to her family updates, her spirit has not been quieted by her outward weakness, and she continues to find daily joy in the visits, gifts and support she receives from her family and her community.

“We pray that she will return in good health,” said Allred. “She is our sunshine.”