Rhett’s personality has always been over the moon with excitement even on his bad days he always smiles. His older sister has been the best thing for him in staying so positive and to keep moving, so honestly, I think she might be one of his favorite things. He loves dinosaurs or large animals that go RAWR! He loves climbing, building, and exploring new things. He truly is the sweetest little boy.
Rhett was diagnosed with high risk B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia on January 7th 2021. We honestly thought Rhett was experiencing growing pains because he would occasionally complain of his legs hurting. He would then have low grade fevers off and on which we thought was from teething, at that time he wasn’t even 2 1/2 so it definitely would have been normal for that age. We finally decided to take him in once we noticed spots on his abdomen and he just smelled differently to me; much like a diabetic has a smell when their glucose gets too low, but the smell was different.
Rhett has had over a dozen lumbar punctures with chemo into his spine as a preventative treatment. He now takes daily oral chemo and will be on that until May 11, 2023. He’s had about 80 IV chemo sessions, 10 blood transfusions, and 5 platelet transfusions, One of his IV chemo treatments, earlier this year, caused him to go into anaphylactic shock so he’s had to get 36 chemo shots.
Rhett’s limitations are very dependent on what chemo he is getting at that time and if his immune system is high enough to do things like play outside because he is still considered immune-compromised and will be until he finishes all chemo which won’t be until May 11, 2023. Some chemo medicines give him leg aches to the point that he can’t walk, while others definitely mess with his mood or can even cause a rash. The steroids seem to do the most between rage, hunger, pains, etc.
His diagnosis has drastically changed our family life causing separation anxiety between him and his sister, especially when he’s had to stay at the hospital for an extended period of time. It has also caused extra stress on myself and my husband to make sure we get the best care, keep things clean, and not get too exhausted from appointments. Life has been very strenuous this year.
Rhett has been so incredibly strong and amazing through everything. He has his weak moments, but don’t we all? Honestly, though, he’s a million times stronger than I think I ever could be.
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