Wyatt has a very outgoing and happy personality. He reminds me of my 94-year-old grandpa. He is very social and loves music and dancing. He also loves firetrucks, Blippi, and Spiderman. His favorite song is This Little Light Of Mine.
Wyatt was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in September of 2021. Wyatt was a really active toddler and then all of a sudden, he stopped playing as much, didn’t have much of an appetite and he was getting random fevers. I noticed him having stomach issues so I took him to an on-call pediatrician and they told me he was fine. I looked at the doctor and told her I wanted an x-ray done on his stomach because something wasn’t right. The x-ray showed he was constipated but I still felt uneasy. I asked the doctor if this could be leukemia and she just said “no, those kids are much sicker than your son”. Three days later we rushed Wyatt to the ER and he had to be airlifted to Lurie’s Children’s Hospital due to his hemoglobin being 2.1. He was diagnosed with Leukemia in the ICU around 4 am.
The day after Wyatt was diagnosed he had the surgery to put his port in, a bone marrow biopsy, and a lumbar puncture. He has been through 5 phases of treatment and will be ending frontline treatment in May. My five-year-old daughter really struggles with this change. Being her age and having to see her brother go through treatment and having mommy and daddy put that extra care into him. Additionally, when his counts are low we pretty much stay home and play it safe to keep him from getting sick.
As a mom of two children, one being healthy and one having cancer I struggle with a lot of guilt. While I need to stay on top of Wyatt’s treatment and medications…also comfort him during it all, I sometimes feel like I’m failing my five-year-old. I know there is no way to prepare yourself for this part of parenthood. My daughter will ask why we leave sometimes and she can’t go with us. Her dad and I try to make sure we do special things for her to feel as loved as she is.
Hope Session by Cedar and Moss Studios | Facebook | Instagram