Two hours after a routine check-in with her doctor, 7-year-old Sienna Braun’s parents got the call.

The Silver Lake Elementary first grader was cancer-free for one year but her leukemia returned.

“She was becoming a normal kid again,” Sienna’s stepmom Janette Braun said. “There were no visual signs that she was battling cancer.”

Last spring, Sienna was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia but went into remission after a round of chemotherapy. In the past year, Sienna was able to return to school, go to Disney World, ride her bike and do normal children activities.

Her hair had grown back.

“Ironically enough, we decided we were going to take the three of us on a trip when she was done and we were getting ready to plan a trip to Hawaii,” Braun said of Sienna and her husband Josh, Sienna’s father.

So when Sienna’s parents found themselves at Seattle Children’s Hospital on June 30 for Sienna’s three month chemotherapy lumbar puncture, a procedure where doctor’s pull spinal fluid to check for cancer, they thought it was just that — a regular, routine  check-in. Her previous test in April returned positive results.

They waited to tell Sienna about her relapse until they had a chance to meet with her doctors the next day.

“Her entire team was just shocked,” Braun said. “… When we saw [her nurse practitioner], you’re supposed to keep a professional distance but you could see the pain in her eyes.”

Braun said Sienna is handling the news of her cancer different this time around.

“She’s afraid she’s gonna die,” Braun said. “No 7-year-old should ever have to ask that.”

In the last year, she’s met other kids with cancer who have passed away.

“The fact that she’s done everything she’s supposed to and the medicine hasn’t worked …,” Braun said of Sienna’s fear.

When they got home from the hospital, Braun said Sienna went downstairs to watch movies with her 19-year-old sister.

“She said, ‘Sister, I have really sad news for you. My cancer’s back and I have to go back to the hospital,’” Braun said. “My daughter said [Sienna] cried but it wasn’t a ‘cry, cry’, it was just tears rolling down her face. She said, ‘That’s OK, we’re going to kick this cancer in the butt like last time.’”

The Federal Way family is preparing to take two months off of work while Sienna undergoes chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant. Thankfully, Sienna’s leukemia hasn’t traveled to her bone marrow, but doctors recommend the transplant because there’s a 50 percent chance the cancer will spread without it.

The plan? Nearly 30 days of in-patient chemotherapy to get her into remission again before the transplant and an additional 45 days after.

With Sienna’s dad as the primary financial provider and the only one who can legally sign hospital paperwork, the extended leave will hit the family hard.

“Being here with her is the easy part, you’re a parent,” Braun said. “You take every minute at a time.”

Braun explains she was going to try to go back to work but Sienna wants the two in her sight at all times while at Seattle Children’s Hospital.

The financial instability is causing the family great stress because of hospital bills, regular daily expenses and, not to mention, they also have teenage children.

Because of this, the Brauns have set up a gofundme.com account for Sienna’s second battle. Already, the community has rallied around them and raised $7,000 in two weeks. With a goal of $20,000, Braun said it’s been amazing to see complete strangers emailing them and donating.

Even local Safeway store in the Twin Lakes Shopping Center asked how they could help. Sienna had filmed a Mariner’s Moose commercial there for Seattle Children’s Hospital so the employees and store manager knew who she was.

Braun said the manager approached her, asking if it would be OK if they designated coin jars at cash registers to help the family out.

While the family celebrates each happy moment to the fullest, such as Sienna’s giggle as she plays Candyland with her dad or visits from her sisters, teachers, friends and even Macklemore, the hard times are especially hard.

“She had a mental break, a code purple,” Braun said, explaining the cause is from a steroid she has to take called dexamethasone for incremental periods. “She basically can’t control her feelings. She was trying to hurt herself, trying to hurt us. It was just overwhelming.”

Seattle Children’s Hospital has a psychiatric team, called the Purple Team, which have since developed a plan and are working on coping skills when she’s going through these “’roid rages,” as Braun describes them.

“Once she comes down, she cries,” Braun said. “It’s heart wrenching. She’s doing better now but we have another five-day course next week.”

Getting her nasogastric tube intubated was also a struggle. While it’s in now, the first time it was put in, she vomited it out and the second time she screamed and cried. Finally, doctors were able to place it through sedation. It stayed in after hot chocolate with extra sprinkles was delivered, on request, when she woke up.

The Brauns face the next two months dependant on chemotherapy, donations and good spirits.

“We’re really relying on other people to help us,” Braun said. “It’s scary but also beautiful because they are helping.”

To donate to this family, visit www.gofundme.com/siennaslove, buy a shirt in support of Sienna at www.booster.com/siennastronground2 or mail cards or donations to Seattle Children’s Hospital patient Sienna Braun FA.7.206, 4800 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle WA 98105. To follow Sienna’s battle against cancer, visit her Facebook page “Sienna Strong Against Cancer” at www.facebook.com/SiennaStrongAgainstCancer

Sienna Braun, age 7, in her hospital bed at Seattle Children’s with two of her favorite teachers. Sienna is battling leukemia again and her family needs the community’s help with financial support. Contributed photo

Sienna Braun and her father share a difficult moment during Sienna’s cancer treatment. Contributed photo