Before we went on our family vacation 2018 September…. Jayden had some bruising and Petechiae on his legs… after we can back from vacation the spots had moved to his belly… we took him to the pediatrician. I thought he had anemia, because it runs in the family on the maternal side…. but we were told to go to the emergency room immediately…. I knew something was not good.
When we went to the ER the labs took an extremely long time and I know when the labs take long that’s not a good sign either, I heard the phone ring and the nurse answer the phone to take the critical lab value.
The Dr. came in and asked me if we could go to the room next door. My stomach went into my throat and I immediately wanted to vomit. The Dr gave me the bad news, but I was between shock, disbelief and hysterical tears.
But they tried their best to stay positive and move fast. All the while Jayden was in the other room still upset about being poked from the IVs, and knew nothing about his cancer diagnosis.
After diagnosis we went immediately to the ICU and Jayden had pharesis to take out as many of the white blood cells as they could before they started the first round of chemo.
They told us that his white cell count was greater than 400,000…. we couldn’t start chemo until they were less than 50,000. So they did pharesis for two sessions similar to dialysis. Then they started chemo 2 days later.
The only symptoms he had was the abnormal bruising, and petechiae (red spots on his legs and belly) and I noticed he was a little more fatigued than normal and wasn’t eating as much.
Jayden’s cancer diagnosis has changed our family immensely. We are able to appreciate each other more. We value our quality time with each other and we enjoy spending time just snuggling, watching movies, eating and watching the boys spend time together. If anything it has made us a stronger family unit. Although horrible and traumatizing… there are so many resources that give Jayden and his brother opportunities they never before had, such as going to the Golden Knights Game, meeting all our favorite superheroes and experiencing events like this one and others.
Jayden is the strongest little boy I have ever met, he hates that he is going through but I always tell him he will be a fighter and stronger when this is all over and done with
Hope session by Sarah Beth Chamberlain Photography | Facebook | Instagram