Carson loves to laugh and go on adventures with his family and friends. He is always concerned with his loved ones and wants to ensure everyone is having a good time. He loves volunteering with his school and church groups and is captain of his high school Speech and Debate club.
Carson was diagnosed with leukemia in 2017. Before his diagnosis, he had a fever for a week, leg pain, and extreme fatigue. He had three years of treatment and that has caused some chronic health issues.
It was the worst experience of our life, but we try and look at the positive and there are a lot of things it has taught us as a family, to appreciate life’s moments and not to sweat the small stuff.
My son Rocky was diagnosed with ALL on March 10, 2020, right when the pandemic started. He was only 13 at the time and his whole world changed along with dealing with covid. He was diagnosed with Tcell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and endured 2.5 years of treatment. He had nine months of intensive treatment called frontline where he went through so much chemo and procedures to count. On July 27, 2022, he got to ring the bell and take his last chemo pills. Chemo does a lot to childhood cancer fighters and they continue to deal with the side effects, He is now going to be 18 at the end of March and will be graduating in June. I am beyond proud, blessed, and happy for his next chapter.
Willie was diagnosed with All on February 15, 2022, at two and half years old. He had constant bruising, petechia, and random fevers on and off over a few months.
He has been going through treatment for the last two years, harsh chemotherapy drugs, and intense protocols. He has had over 20 spinal procedures, 3 bone marrow biopsies, and over 10 blood/platelet transfusions.
Emotionally this has been the hardest to navigate. Having your baby and such a young child with cancer and then having to go through all of the treatments, knowing he has a full life ahead of him. But we’ve become a stronger family through it all and our son’s strength has kept us the strongest. We’re very optimistic and looking forward to the day he’s done with treatment.
Izzy (Isabel) was diagnosed with B cell ALL in January of 2022. Before her diagnosis, she was experiencing fever, paleness, and bruising. I didn’t like how she looked so I insisted on labs and the pediatrician was on board. We got a CBC and another two weeks later then we were diagnosed.
She has had many sedation procedures for lumbar puncture, central line placements, and removals along with two years of chemotherapy and many, many weeks inpatient at the hospital. She has also had every scan and blood test imaginable. Izzy may need open heart surgery to remove the blood clot in her heart. She is fearless, kind, and optimistic. She calls herself the “blonde” Annie!
Emmett is spunky and sweet. He loves love, he will take a kiss from mom and dad any day. He also loves dinosaurs.
Emmett was diagnosed with ALL on April 27, 2023. Looking back, he was super pale, in a lot of pain, and had petechiae all over his body.
Right now he is immune compromised so he is sick a lot. He can’t keep up with his older sister. He’s also been hospitalized a lot recently. He has been sitting in a hospital bed on and off for a really long time. He will need to spend some time building strength in walking again.
This has been a living nightmare that single handedly uprooted our family and had been the single worst experience of our lives. Oddly enough for as much as it has sucked, it also has been equally good. We’ve found a really cool community and there has been a ton of love.
One month before diagnosis, Amira wasn’t using her right arm, specifically her shoulder movement. She would play, but would hold her right arm like a chicken wing close to her body. We thought maybe she fell on a toy or something. It would come and go, but when we noticed that it wasn’t going away we took her to see her pediatrician. It took us a whole month of several checkups, specialists, bloodwork, x-rays, etc before we got the call that it was cancer. The hard part was that we did send bloodwork for cancer into an oncologist 2 weeks into our search for a diagnosis and they said it didn’t look like cancer and to keep looking. After another 2 weeks of searching, our pediatrician suggested we get blood work again at a pediatric oncology department which we did. Results came back and the oncologist called immediately to tell us that it was cancer after we thought cancer was already ruled out. At that point, Amira’s bone marrow was packed with cancer cells and 44% of her blood was cancer cells.
Amira is over 2 years into her chemotherapy treatment and has had countless limitations along the way, but is now in a good spot in treatment where she is feeling better and able to play with full function of her body.
At the time of Amira’s diagnosis, I had just returned to work after giving birth to my son. My husband and I both had to take a lot of unpaid time off of work. We also could not all go to the hospital together, so we had to divide and conquer which meant one of us at the hospital with Amira and one of us staying home with our son. With Amira having a compromised immune system, we have had to skip every single holiday, family function, etc. for the last 2 years. We have been living in a bubble and not being able to go out and about or live normal lives since diagnosis.
Everything she goes through is normal for her and she does great with taking medicine, fighting through tough days, helping the nurses, etc. Amira is a fighter and does not complain at all along the way!
