Jayden has been battling B Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia since November 2021. He had leg and back pain for a few weeks prior to diagnosis. He also had intermittent fevers. We finally took him to the ER when he was having shortness of breath and tachycardia.
Jayden has had bone marrow biopsies, multiple lumbar punctures with intrathecal chemo, IV chemotherapy as well and daily oral chemo. He has had multiple blood, platelet, and plasma transfusions. He has been hospitalized for critical glucose levels and liver problems due to the side effects of chemotherapy.
Our son has had a part of his childhood taken from him. He will never be able to take back what cancer has stolen. Cancer has changed our lives forever. We love harder, we hug and kiss longer, and we don’t take people and the time we have with them for granted.
Liam is a energetic little boy, he likes simple things , he likes to act silly to makes us laugh.
Liam was diagnosed with ALL on November 29, 2022. Before his diagnosis, Liam experienced fevers for more than 2 weeks, developed petechiae, was bruising a lot, and he was pale.
We have had to put our lives on a pause, and many events had to be canceled.
Karina was diagnosed at four years old with PH+ ALL a very rare and aggressive type of leukemia. One week before treatment, she relapsed. We moved from our home in San Diego to Philly for treatment at CHOP where we decided to live permanently so she can always be close to the best hospital.
We spent much of the last 3 years inpatient. Additionally, her dad died 5 months ago making the journey that much unbearable. It’s been rough but my daughter is truly a warrior.
In the summer of 2023, Lois Louis started limping and then had trouble standing. An MRI confirmed that he had fractures all along his spine from the leukemia.
The first 6 weeks of treatment were very rough, and we spent more time in the hospital than we were at home. This has taken a big toll on our mental health and ability to work. Right now, he’s not walking or standing and he gets tired quickly. We are working with PT and he’s getting better quickly, but it’s still a journey.
Everything feels different. We are living our lives minute by minute, shifting our priorities to make sure that Lou has everything that he wants or needs.
This has been such a hard time to see our very active loving, talkative little toddler become bedridden and in pain. He’s such an amazing kid and so resilient but a two-year-old shouldn’t have to be this strong. He’s teaching us a lot about who we want to be.
Ava was diagnosed in June of 2021 with ALL. She got really sick and wouldn’t eat or get up. She had symptoms of bruising and petechia, but we didn’t know those were signs of cancer.
She’s gone through intensive treatments including a lot of hospital admittance, but overall she’s much better now. Our family struggles emotionally and financially since I had to stop working to tend to my daughter’s clinic/ hospital visits and her developmental delays due to being autistic as well.
This has broken my life in so many ways, it’ll never be the same, and only time will be able to heal all the pain endured through this whole ordeal. Ava has come a long way, and we’ll fight to the end!
