The Felds mold their lives around a simple saying that Reagan’s oncologist once gave: “Don’t stop living.” Melissa adds that because day-to-day life is so unpredictable, there simply is no other way to live. Her condition, though clearly has an impact on her life, doesn’t make her any different from any other 4-year-old girl who aspires to grow up to be a princess, talks incessantly about her younger sister, and tries to do as many activities as possible.

In addition to chemotherapy, Reagan’s treatment requires her to follow a stringent regimen of multiple medications. On average, she takes 4 medications, but at times the number can jump upwards of 8. The Felds have used FLAVORx flavors such as Grape and Watermelon to help Reagan swallow much-needed medications like Bactrim, Augmentin and Colace. Most recently however, Reagan says that Apple is her favorite flavor. Gary adds that as she gets older, FLAVORx plays an increasingly important role in medicine time for Reagan. He notes, “Now that she’s older she knows what she likes and doesn’t like. It’s a lot harder to convince her to take something that tastes bad!”

When asked about her recent win in the SuperKid Contest, Reagan answers, “I liked seeing myself on the computer!” A broad smile stretches across her face. It’s a smile so big it appears even her eyes are smiling. Reagan doesn’t like to discuss her leukemia and even at such a young age seems to extraordinarily, yet casually, be able to change the topic of conversation away from cancer. But through her own unique way of giving character to her situation, one might hear about her “Mushroom” or “Tubey”- the chemotherapy tube inserted into her chest, or tales that tell of other components of her treatment equipment that are rumored to be named after famous hockey players (her favorite being Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals). As for what Reagan wants for future, it’s simple: “To get better and go to Disneyworld!” An NFL-star after a Super Bowl win couldn’t have said it any better.

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