Donald is shy but he has dreams to be an actor one day. He likes to make videos, especially ones where his dad dresses up as Batman and makes him laugh. Donald loves jokes and acting silly. He loves video games and he’s quite good! He also loves art and playing outside.
Donald was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia when we were stationed in Germany. Dad is active-duty military personnel. We had to travel on an emergency evacuation flight to America to start treatment. I (Mom) knew for months that Donald was sick. I just couldn’t figure out what kind of sick. I took him to the doctor nearly weekly for two months until it was finally uncovered with a complete blood count. During those months he had fevers, he was lethargic, he had bone pain, and in the end, his appetite started fading.
After treatment started, Donald was unable to walk for over a month – he is fully mobile now but he is frequently isolated at home because his immune system is severely suppressed currently. Our family is frequently separated for hospital visits and clinic days. Our daughter Claire is 21 months old. She became the most patient and independent baby through this all. She has spent so many days away from mommy, and that was never the plan. She’s always grateful for our family to be back together—we all are! Our family has learned how to live with these changes. It’s certainly not easy, but we’re taking it with stride.
Our family has hit so many hurdles during the past 9 months. First, we had to leave behind everything in Germany and only carried a couple of suitcases with us. We lived in hotels for two months while Donald got stable in Maryland. Then we got official orders to Charleston and we lived in hotels another two months while we closed on a home. All the while, Donald has had extra unexpected hospitalizations, one in the ICU, extra surgeries for kidney stones, and a month where he was completely immobile. He had to learn to walk again and that was one of our hardest times. Looking back, it seems unreal the number of struggles we’ve been through but every day we have kept our focus on faith and taking it one day at a time. We celebrate every day we are given and we are so thankful that our fighter is here today!
During these months that we’ve spent at home, we created a YouTube channel at Donald’s request. We upload family videos and he loves coming up with the ideas. He considers himself a YouTube Star and we agree!
Hope Session by Wendy Kovac Photography