It’s the news no parent wants to hear.

For Auburn’s Amber Snider, it came a little more than a week before Christmas, when she took her 4-year-old daughter, Iley Puloka, to a hospital to find out why she was having so much trouble getting over what they thought was a cold.

“I thought it was just a normal cold, but then she wasn’t getting better. She was just getting weaker,” Snider said. “Then, on Dec. 14, we found that she was really pale and had bruising on her legs.”

After a trip to Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma and a round of blood work, doctors told Snider that her daughter had acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a cancer of the white blood cells that is most prevalent in children younger than 15 years old.

“My whole life was changed. It went upside down in the matter of one night,” Snider said.

Immediately, Iley began chemotherapy treatment to rid her body of the immature white blood cells that had run rampant because of the cancer.

Because of the necessity to aggressively treat Iley’s leukemia, she was forced to spend 10 days in the hospital, including Christmas.

So far, Snider said her daughter is responding well to her treatment, which includes a round of chemo and a spinal tap every Wednesday.

“The only bad side effects so far have been a little bit of hair loss,” she said. “She had some mouth sores. But she’s done really good with this. Usually the kids with such low blood counts just want to sleep, but she’s been up and running and still active. The doctors have been really surprised by that.”

Since her initial stay at the hospital, Snider said Iley has had to be admitted twice, once for a high fever and once for a virus.

The prognosis for Iley, however, is excellent. According to Seattle Children’s Hospital, the national five-year survival rate for children with ALL is 83 percent.

“If you have leukemia, I guess that’s the best one to have,” Snider said. “It’s two years for the whole treatment. Right now she is in remission.”

Snider explained that there were still some leukemia blood cells hidden in her body, but the docs were confident that the chemo would do its job and rid her body of the errant cells.

“After June, she’ll be able to go places again,” Snider said. “The first six months is the hardest part of chemo, that’s when they crack down and do everything.”

Snider said Iley has to stay at home to avoid catching any illnesses that might jeopardize her recovery.

For Snider, who works as a hairdresser, taking car of Iley is a full-time job. Although she has the help of boyfriend and Iley’s father, Teli Paluka, she said she couldn’t do it without the help of extended family.

“Family has helped us with the kids,” she said. “My mom was at the hospital every day, just bringing us dinners and helping out with (Iley). We have big families, so together we have a huge support group.”

Although Iley is insured under her dad’s health plan at work, Snider’s cousin Shauna Mayfield and her husband Tory, owners of The Log Cabin Pub in Sumner, have pledged to help pay for any uncovered expenses by hosting a benefit this Tuesday.

The Mayfields, in conjunction with Keller Williams Realty Auburn, where Tory works as a realtor, will donate proceeds from bar revenue and entertainment at “Iley’s Kickin’ Leukemia Benefit” beginning at 5 p.m. Tuesday at The Log Cabin Pub. In addition, the event will feature a raffle with donated items including gift baskets, sports tickets, an overnight stay at Suncadia Resort and a bass fishing trip.

All the support and positive energy coming her way makes it a little easier to get through the rough days, Snider said.

“We just have to deal with and keep moving. She has brothers (TJ, Tui and Joe), so you have to make sure you’re here for everybody. There are times that it just gets the best of me. But we all try to stay strong for her.”

Snider continued:

“We just kind of go day by day, basically,” she said. “We don’t make any far out plans, because we don’t know if she’s going to spike a fever. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring. I wonder why it was us and why it had to happen to her, but it happened, so we just have to go with it.”