Christopher had swollen lymph nodes and a stomach ache. I took him to his pediatrician the day I noticed his lymph nodes, it was the Sunday before Christmas in 2015, and we got an antibiotic. Then, we went back and saw an allergy pa and got another antibiotic. The next week went to his ent. He was given an antibiotic (again!) After four weeks, we went back and saw another one of his pediatricians and finally she felt it was a red flag. We went in to get a chest X-ray, then a biopsy the following day and while we were waiting, we went up to talk to a pediatric oncologist and he got a finger prick which showed his wbc was extremely high, mostly cancer cells. We were admitted that day to Brenner Children’s Hospital and he went into remission in Feb. 2016 and has been in treatment, now at East TN children’s oncology. He just finished his treatment plan!
Christopher lost all his hair and has had many side effects- pain, nausea, upset stomach, no appetite. We had to move away from everyone and everything we knew a month after his diagnosis. That was stressful, along with some financial burden and my son missing half of kindergarten and first grade. It affects you emotionally, psychologically, and, socially.
He is very strong, brave, courageous and resilient! He is a superhero that has come through hell and still here, still going strong!
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