Military mom leaves hospital in time for Thanksgiving after beating cancer

Thursday, November 22, 2018
RAEFORD, North Carolina -- The saying goes: "Where there's no struggle, there's no strength."[br /][br /]Rileigh Denis knows both very well. She survived a crash with a drunk driver two years ago before taking on a fight against leukemia.[br /][br /]After three weeks of intense treatment at Duke Hospital, the mom is sharing some exciting news.[br /][br /]"The nurse practitioner, she told me the bone marrow scan I got last Thursday was completely cancer-free. So total complete remission, so that was really exciting yesterday. So there's no cancer they can see in my body," said Denis.[br /] [br /]ABC11 first reported on Rileigh in October during the Ri: 2.0 Challenge.[/url] Her gym, Iron Forged Athletics, pulled together to help her lift and press through.[br /][br /]"Its overwhelming in a good way. All the love and support. I mean, the fact that my gym dropped everything," said Denis.[br /][br /]These days, Rileigh is picking up where she left off, literally. The mom hit the gym just days after being released from the hospital.[br /][br /]But, at home is where Rileigh says the rehab really begins.[br /][br /]"I'm getting back in the swing of things. Obviously, my house isn't in the order that I wanted it to be in," said Denis.[br /][br /]But there's no place Rileigh would rather be.[br /]
[br /]"Getting woken up at 4 a.m. to have labs drawn was not a fun thing, but the hardest was not seeing Noah," said Denis.[br /][br /]Rileigh comes from a family of warriors. Her husband is in the military, and her mom is also battling cancer, but Rileigh's strength to survive came from above.[br /][br /]"I love God. I love Jesus and for me, I always stayed positive," said Denis.[br /][br /]That's something to be thankful for.[br /][br /]"I'm thankful for my community, I'm thankful for my gym, my family, all of the well wishes and calls," Rileigh listed.
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