Teen speaks out about childhood cancer

By BRANDY CRUZ | Photos by BECKY STINEHOUR and courtesy of the COVERT FAMILY

At only 3 years old, McKenzie Covert’s world was turned upside down.

The normally bright and bubbly little girl was suddenly suffering from joint pain and lethargy. At first, she was diagnosed with juvenile arthritis. Call it mother’s intuition or a gut feeling, but in the back of her mind, McKenzie’s mom, Tiffany Covert, felt something else was wrong. When she discovered bruises on McKenzie’s chest and back one night, she immediately took photos and sent them to her daughter’s primary care doctor and the rheumatologist she had been seeing for months for arthritis.

After some blood tests were done, the Coverts received a devastating call from the pediatrician, saying the blood work showed signs of leukemia. By midnight, the Coverts, who live in Woodway, were at Baylor Scott & White McLane Children’s Medical Center in Temple.

“I really thought nothing was going to happen until the next morning, but no, they poked and prodded and took blood and asked questions,” Tiffany said. “It was the very next morning when the oncologist came in and gave us the official diagnosis.”

Their 3-year-old daughter had B Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, a form of blood cancer affecting the white blood cells made in bone marrow.

From that moment, McKenzie’s childhood was no longer defined by preschool and play dates. Her new reality consisted of doctor’s visits, chemotherapy, blood tests, blood and platelet transfusions and the melodic beeping of hospital equipment.

The Coverts toddler was facing something even the strongest of adults can’t survive. But for Jeff and Tiffany Covert, finally knowing the real reason for the pain their daughter had been enduring was a relief.

“It was partly a relief that we knew what was going on and we had a plan,” Tiffany said. “But also, there was a feeling of helplessness when we found out she was going to have to go through two and half years of chemo. Just knowing she was going to be sick and she wasn’t going to be a regular child was devastating for us.”

Tiffany explained that her daughter was put into a standard risk category based on her blood work. That changed after a month of strong chemotherapy and steroids — protocol that normally puts patients into remission. McKenzie did not go into remission, however, so she was moved to a high risk category, meaning she had a high risk of relapsing. With an even stronger chemo protocol that included high doses of Methotrexate, McKenzie had to be placed in the hospital for five to seven days each time she received that treatment.

“High dose Methotrexate was very rough on her. They had to reduce the amount by 25% after the first round because she developed mucositis, which are sores in your mouth and down your esophagus. She was throwing up blood. She couldn’t eat. She couldn’t drink,” Tiffany said. “My husband and I were a little nervous because if you’re not getting all the chemo that protocol says you need, it makes you a little nervous. What if it doesn’t work?”

Come January 2016, McKenzie was in remission.

“When we got the word that she was in remission, it was like a sigh of relief,” Tiffany said. “She wasn’t in the clear because she could relapse, but we felt like we could breathe again.”

McKenzie still had to undergo two more years of chemo to ensure the chemo killed any leukemia cells that could be hiding. Two years of treatments, being admitted to the hospital anytime her temperature hit 100.4, and being at the oncology clinic almost as much as she was at home was difficult, but they made it through thanks to the staff at McLane Children’s Medical Center.

“(The clinic and hospital staff) became like our second family, for sure. We were at the oncology clinic three days a week for the first year of treatment for multiple hours at a time. We had our favorite nurses when she was admitted to the hospital. McKenzie set up a nail salon in her hospital room and all the nurses would come in and get their nails done, even the male nurses,” Tiffany said.

“Being in the hospital for several days at a time or the clinic for five to eight hours a day is not fun, but McLane’s definitely made it as enjoyable and painless as possible. I feel like they treated us like family. Her main oncologist treated her like she was his daughter. I could feel the compassion. There’s some doctors who are good doctors but don’t have the best bedside manner. Dr. (Javier) Kane treated us with respect and made us feel like every concern and every question was valid.”

But with only two weeks left of treatment, McKenzie had to stop because she developed viral meningitis and her body was too weak to continue chemotherapy.

“It was a little nerve-wracking for me and my husband, just knowing she didn’t get all the chemo that she needed, but she got 98% of it,” Tiffany said. “It was enough! She hit the five-year post-treatment mark in January 2023, which is a big milestone.”

September marks 10 years since McKenzie was first diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, and the 13-year-old is now living her best life — playing all the sports she missed out on and even putting her entrepreneurial skills to the test by building her own lip gloss business.

McKenzie doesn’t remember a lot of what she went through, but that hasn’t stopped her from speaking out about childhood cancer. She serves as the 2025 Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Champion for McLane Children’s Medical Center.

“It makes me feel happy and honored,” McKenzie said. “I go to different events and share my story.”

McKenzie shares her story of survival, spreading awareness about childhood cancer and letting people know how much their donations mean to families like the Coverts and how they help kids just like McKenzie.

As for her entrepreneurial feats, the 13-year-old offered up a little advice about skincare.

“Wash your face every night, don’t use a lot of different things and have a constant routine,” she said. “And use skincare that’s good for young skin. I like this skincare called Bubble.”

As for her personal lip gloss business — Glossy Girls Waco — McKenzie said they recently released three new scents of lip gloss — lavender, smoothie bowl and cotton candy, but her all-time favorite is pink drink.