Isaac is a loving, caring kid that is always looking out for others. He likes to ride his bike, go to the park, bake and he likes to do arts and crafts. He loves to play with our cat and dogs and he likes to play with his cousins too. He loves superheroes. His favorite ones are Batman, Spider-man, and Captain America.
Isaac was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia on September 4, 2015, at the age of 4 1/2 years old. About a month and a half before Isaac’s diagnosis, he would complain about leg pain occasionally. We noticed it would happen when we would walk a lot so we didn’t think much of it. One particular night, about a month before his diagnosis the pain was so bad he woke up crying because of how bad it was. We took him to the emergency room where they did a physical test and observed him for a few hours and was later released because they didn’t think anything of it. They concluded that it was growing pains. We followed up with an appointment with his pediatrician and she agreed with the doctors in the emergency room. Another thing that we noticed was his skin color changed. He looked more yellow leading up to his diagnosis and his mood was overall just sad. He was always more tired also.
Three days before Isaac’s diagnosis, he had a high fever that wouldn’t go away. We were up all night because he couldn’t rest because of the fever. He didn’t do much, he wouldn’t even eat. I took him to the doctor the day after (Wednesday) and was told that other kids came in with similar symptoms as him and it was most likely a virus that was going around. She told me to bring him that Friday if the symptoms persisted. That night was also rough because neither of us could sleep. Around 4 AM on Thursday, I noticed that his top lip was a little swollen and it was tender to the touch and the left side of his face was beginning to swell up too. I immediately woke my husband up and told him that we should take him to the emergency room.
They took him in right away and they started asking me questions and his blood was drawn was right away. A doctor came in about 30 minutes later and told me to sit down because what she was going to tell me wasn’t good. My heart immediately dropped to my stomach. She told me Isaac’s hemoglobin level was at a 3 and normal hemoglobin is 12 or more. She told me that what Isaac most likely had was cancer. She told me that Isaac needed to be admitted immediately to get a blood transfusion and to get tested to see what type of cancer he had. That entire day he was given blood transfusions. The next day he had a bone marrow biopsy around 1 pm and at 11 pm the doctor gave us the news that Isaac had leukemia.
Isaac had chemo treatment started the day after his diagnosis. His treatment lasted 3 years and 3 months. During those 3 years, he’s had blood transfusions, platelet transfusions, countless lumbar punctures, intravenous chemo, and oral medication every day. Isaac has had to get an IEP at school because he struggled with math and reading while getting treatment because of what they call “Chemo Brain”. After getting his IEP, he has learned to read and is more confident in math.
Isaac’s cancer diagnosis did change our family life. After he was diagnosed, I had to quit my job so I could take care of him and could take him to his appointments. All of our attention was diverted to him to make sure he was well and taken care of. This meant taking attention away from our oldest daughter. Unfortunately, this is what happens when you have an ill child. Our family life also changed because every time something hurts him or he isn’t feeling well, we get scared because the thought of the cancer returning is always in the back of our mind and that is something we will always have to live with.
This is something that we never imagined would happen to us. It brought us closer as a family, we learned who our true friends are, we’ve met some great people along the way and we’ve felt the love of strangers with their kindness of giving. This has taught us to be patient, to forgive, to love harder, and to always thank God for the little things in life. This has also taught us to never doubt God’s plans that he has for each one of us.
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