Ollie is a little shy at first, but when he warms up, he is very silly and goofy. He loves to tell jokes and play pranks. He laughs at all our jokes (even bad ones) and likes to make up his own jokes and silly songs. He loves superheroes, paw patrol, sharks, cars, Elephant and Piggie books, pokemon, and video games like Zelda and Minecraft. He’s very adventurous and brave (he’s been jumping off tall furniture since he could walk), but he still wants to snuggle with his blanket when he’s a little overwhelmed.
He was diagnosed with ALL in the spring of 2022. He started limping about two weeks before his diagnosis. He also was very tired, cranky, and clingy. I noticed petechiae on his body and my sister pointed out how skinny he’d gotten.
Ollie has had two surgeries to place and replace his port, multiple bone marrow biopsies, lumbar punctures, and around a dozen or more blood and/or platelet transfusions. He’s done a variety of chemotherapy treatments and has spent most of the past 2 and a half years on chemo. He’s spent around 50 days in the hospital in the past 2 years. I quit the full-time job I had when he was diagnosed and I’ve had to change jobs multiple times to find ones that will cover our finances and allow me to miss days when he’s in the hospital or when I need to bring him to appointments. We’ve all struggled emotionally with this, needing therapy and medication to help with the psychological toll seeing our sweet boy go through this has done.
I feel like I value my time with my kids much more and I’ve become a much more patient parent. My motto now is that there’s no mess too big that we can’t clean up, and I try to say “yes” to as many things as I can because life is so short and precious.
Ollie is the bravest little boy I know. He takes big scary medical procedures that would make any adult worry and does them like they were nothing. He has fought so so hard these last 2 years and we are so proud of him. If he can do this, I know I can do any big scary thing I have to face.
Hope session by EllieBean Photography | Facebook | Instagram