Stella is spunky, outgoing, very energetic and happy! Being a kid and doing normal kid stuff makes her laugh. Stella likes hip hop dancing swimming and princes and all things spooky! She just turned 4.
Two years ago, we started noticing bruises on Stella. She was also experiecing night sweats a cold and a fever. On March 3rd, 2013, she was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. She has had many different procedures. Bone marrow aspirations – spinal taps – blood and platelet transfusions inpatient stays- leg injections oral chemo – hair loss- missing school and activities. As a family we were challenged because our son was just 9 weeks old when Stella was diagnosed. Having a newborn and dealing with/ childhood cancer was beyond difficult and straining.
Cancer changed so much! We are constantly worried. We have to limit certain foods and manage steroid rages. Keeping her med schedule in check is challenging. Stella is constantly informing people of her treatment. Our lives will never be the same!
Stella inspires people of all ages through her charisma and strength. Other than the hair loss and some periods of being wiped out, this girl has persevered through things most adults haven’t even gone through. She’s is a force!
Landry loves sports! All sports! He loves riding bikes, swimming and being outside. He is a huge goofball and loves to make us laugh! He can be shy at times, but once he warms up he is the life of the party.
Shortly after he turned two, I noticed he was tired and wanted to be held a lot. He seemed “off” and also had a wound on his head that wasn’t healing. A trip to the doctor changed our world. On April 7, 2015, he was diagnosed with Pre B Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.
Landry had 6 months of intense treatment with many rounds of chemo, blood and platelet transfusions and many, many nights spent in the hospital. He is now in the maintenance phase of treatment. He takes several oral chemos, daily and weekly, and still has chemo infusions and lumbar punctures with chemo. Maintanence phase for Landry lasts two years.
Our family was torn apart during the intense phase of treatment, and it is still a struggle when Landry has appointments and chemo. Trying to balance the needs of all four kiddos in our family has been a struggle at times. My husband and I took turns staying at the hospital so one of us could be home for the other kids. Although there was many times when Landry was so sick that both of us would stay at the hospital, leaving the other kids with friends and family. We have dealt with severe anxiety in our kiddos. I think we are even closer than ever as a family now. Our eyes have been opened to another world, the world of pediatric cancer. Our kids are more understanding and compassionate. They had to grow up a bit faster then their peers. They have seen and heard things kids their age should not have to. I think childhood cancer has changed us all, we will never be the same. But it’s not all bad. We have made the choice to choose joy and seek joy in this life!
Levi was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in 2009 when I was 8 months pregnant with his sister. He woke up with a black eye and I took him to the doctor to figure out why. They did blood work and sent us over to the oncology clinic for a bone marrow biopsy. The results came back that he had leukemia (ALL).
His treatment plan lasted close to 4 years. He is now in remission and a survivor!! It was a very hard journey watching everything he went through and living through the ups and downs from cancer, along with raising a newborn but Our God is and an awesome God, he provided! Levi is the light of our life and always has us laughing! He is so loving and I learn from him everyday!
Chloe is the sweetest, kindest child I know. She is very soft spoken and loves to dance and draw. She is very artistic and likes to play the piano also.
She had always been very healthy but right after her 6th birthday I noticed a bump on her neck. We went to the doctors and she didn’t think anything of it, just said it was a swollen lymph node and that it would go away on it’s own. It never went away and I took her back to the doctors and they did an ultra sound and took blood. A couple hours later I got a call from her pediatrician who said we needed to take her to children’s hospital because her blood work came back very off. We went to the ER that afternoon and by that evening we were admitted to the oncology floor of the children’s hospital. We didn’t get the official diagnosis for a couple days after that but she was offcially diagnosed with B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia just 2 weeks after her 6th birthday.
Chloe went through 2 1/2 years of chemotherapy and steroids. She also had around 20 lumbar punctures with chemo injected directly into her spine. She handled all the treatment extremely well and even was able to return to school during her last year of treatment.
It was a complete change in our daily life for all of us including her 2 older brothers. They were both affected by her treatment as well because we could no longer be the active family we once were. Now we had to worry about germs and being around any large groups of people. The first year of treatment Chloe wasn’t able to leave the house very much so that also meant that I (her mom) didn’t leave the house often either. Through it all, our family grew stronger together and we really saw the good in people. So many of our family and friends were such great support and helped bring means, donate money, pick up the boys from school and just help us any way they could. We truly saw that God was with us the whole time and we found great comfort and peace in Him. Chloe officially ended treatment on September 1 2017.
Conner is the happiest boy I’ve ever met. Despite everything he has been through and everything he still has to endure, his laugh and smile are so contagious! He loves superheroes and dancing. He loves to take care of his sisters (he has 4) and he loves spending time with me (he’s a momma’s boy). School is his absolute favorite place. He loves reading and learning and playing with his friends. Aside from cancer, he is a typical 7 year old boy.
Two years ago, Connor was very tired all the time, which wasn’t normal, and he had a lot of bruising on his legs. The final warning that something was wrong was petechiae, his blood vessels had raised to the surface of his skin from his forehead to his ankles. On September 4, 2015 he was diagnosed with B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.
He’s on a 3 1/2 year treatment plan, including chemotherapy at the hospital as well as at home. He receives frequent spinal taps, I lost count after a dozen and we have a little more than a year left. Our whole family struggles, emotionally, mentally and physically. This is the hardest thing in the world to go through. He’s just a small child and he’s been through more than most adults will go through in their entire life. Watching a nurse dress head to toe in protective gear to put poison into a child’s body is the most awful thing. It’s hard to explain that to a child; “it’s ok for the poison to be in your bloodstream but the nurse has to protect herself because it’s toxic”, it makes no sense. It’s all a struggle.
Cancer has definitely changed our family life. I am a basket case now, I constantly have to be on my toes. The fear of Conner getting sick from coming into contact with someone that is ill, is almost crippling. We don’t go anywhere in public without Lysol, hand sanitizer and usually Purell or other antibacterial wipes. It’s stressful, simple things like going out to eat or enjoying our local zoo can be a nightmare. Kids just want to be kids, they want to touch everything and without even thinking their fingers go into their mouths. Now there’s panic and sanitizer and madness. Chemotherapy has wiped out his immune system so fighting a common cold is something his body is incapable of right now.
