After her classmates cheered, 5-year-old Rhiannon Purcella marched to the wastebasket in Mrs. Withee's kindergarten class and chucked her pill organizer into the trash.

After 2-1/2 years of chemotherapy, she won't need it anymore.

Using a special Cinderella cup tied with a bow, Rhiannon took her last chemo pills Wednesday with the encouragement of her friends at Rapid City's Zion Lutheran Church and School.

Rhiannon has responded well to the medication, and her leukemia is in remission. Her parents, Seth and Katie Purcella, said it has been a long, sometimes rocky journey since Rhiannon was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in October 2005.

She spent several months at Fairview University Hospital in Minneapolis after the initial diagnosis. Since then, there have been 16 spinal taps, six bone marrow biopsies and at least 10 hospitalizations and many blood transfusions during the maintenance phase of treatment.

"There were periods where her (white blood cell) count would drop down to virtually nothing, and she would run a temperature and be in the hospital for three or four days," Seth said. "It was pretty much out of the blue. You're thinking everything is fine, and the next thing you know, she's running a temperature, and we're heading to the hospital."

After this last batch of chemo works its way through her system over the next three months, and her interclavicle port is removed next week, Rhiannon will be well on her way to being a normal kid again, her parents said.

Unlike her pill organizer, Rhiannon has talked about keeping her port. Seth has offered to make a wooden display case for it, and Katie talked about turning it into a Christmas tree ornament as a reminder to be thankful.

"You have to count your blessings and be thankful for the doctors and the nurses," Katie said. "There's so many blessings. We've had such a support group at church, at home, with friends and family, and even strangers."

"And," Seth added, "We got to keep her."

The Purcellas said they wanted to share the good news about their daughter's health and to thank everyone in the community for the outpouring of support when Rhiannon was first diagnosed. Katie said it makes her feel good to live in a close-knit community.

Because of her medication regimen, the Purcellas have had to closely monitor Rhiannon's diet. They have also avoided large groups of people and tended to not travel much to protect Rhiannon's weakened immune system from illnesses such as the common cold.

"The last two years, when you go somewhere and people are coughing and sneezing, you just get so paranoid: Is she going to get sick? We haven't taken her to Wal-Mart since this started," Seth said.

Rhiannon's last hospitalization was in June, when she had to have four blood transfusions. But her health improved greatly since then, and she, her parents and little brother Noah, 3, took a trip to Walt Disney World over Christmas through the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

"It was magical," Katie said. Noah, too, was impressed after meeting Lightning McQueen from the movie "Cars."

Rhiannon's prognosis is good. She will need monthly blood tests and will be seen by a doctor every three months.

After years of constant anxiety and focus, being able to relax again is a strange sensation for her parents.

"It's kind of surreal, because it seems like it has been all about making sure you have the meds, making sure you have a thermometer with you, making sure you have what you need in case something happens," Katie said.

Seth couldn't fathom finally completing chemo treatments and had to get reassurance from the nurse practitioner that it was really finished.

"It's almost hard to grasp. All of our time off, all of our vacations, everything the past 2-1/2 years has been about doctor visits," he said, slowly shaking his head and looking into the distance. "It's hard for it to register. But it's over."

Contact Scott Aust at 394-8415 or scott.aust@rapidcityjournal.com