Anthony is just the best! He loves to giggle and play with his brother and sister. He loves to play outside, loves Mickey Mouse, bubbles, and being silly.
Anthony was diagnosed this February and is currently in treatment. Prior to Anthony’s birth, we learned that he had down syndrome along with a heart defect that would require surgery within his first year of life. Once Anthony was born, he was also diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension and TMD disorder (pre-leukemia) and required chemotherapy at birth. He spent about 7 1/2 months in the CHOP NICU, where he received a successful heart repair along with g-tube surgery and treatment for hypertension.
We followed with oncology after leaving because due to having the TMD, he was at a higher risk of developing leukemia prior to age 4. This past June, we had been discharged from oncology, all the while knowing the warning signs to watch for, just in case.
In February of this year, Anthony developed a petechial rash on his chest and I asked his primary doctor if we could run some bloodwork (as a just in case). Once the results were in, she called and told us to go straight to the ER and from there, Anthony was then moved to the main campus of CHOP and from a bone marrow biopsy was diagnosed with AML. His only symptom was a “rash”.
All our children are older, so while, we’ve been through this before with his lengthy stay in the NICU, I think this time it’s a little harder on everyone because they have all been together more than apart now.
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