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About 6 months ago it hit me like a freight train that I needed to quit my job and be with my son at any cost, and thankfully my husband fully supported this. My last day of work was May 24. On June 1, Gideon started limping and complaining of leg pain, which he would have for the next several weeks on and off. This is really difficult information for us to share because it still doesn’t feel real. Our sweet, smart, astute, funny, curly strawberry blond headed boy has cancer. After limping on and off for a month, doctors finally diagnosed him with Leukemia (ALL). While his prognosis is good, we have a long battle ahead of us. Full of anxiety, fear, but most of all, hope. You have no idea how hard it is to see your little one in pain, have surgeries to install “ports”, receive spinal taps, and bone marrow tests, be put under for an MRI, be poked and prodded all day long, until you are in it. It’s like being in a battle zone fighting for the person you love most in the whole world, entrusting strangers to help save your child’s life. No one knows why people get Leukemia, but it’s very rare. Only about 4000 kids in the US get this diagnosis annually. Why our baby was picked for this lottery, we may never understand. We have received an outpouring of support from our neighbors and friends, and we are grateful as this is life changing for us and will take a village to come through. Treatment is 2.5 years, but we are hopeful he can return to more and more normalcy as treatments progress. We have been at the hospital for the past week and expect to stay here another week to several weeks, depending on how he does with the initial treatment. These have been the most horrifying days of our lives times one billion and we are leaning on each other and the support from our wonderful neighbors and friends to help us with little but important things like laundry and fresh fruit. We don’t have much energy to answer additional questions at this time because we are so focused on Gideon, and honestly just so overwhelmed by everything we have to do to help our little man get better. It’s very difficult to keep up with texts and calls from the outside right now. We appreciate the sentiment but just can’t always handle more energy output at this time. Thank you for your support. I hope none of you ever have to experience this.
Wishing you and Gideon all the best!
Take heart
Sorry to hear about this. My daughter was 4 when she was diagnosed with AML. I continued working albeit from hospital and my wife did most of the day shifts and I did the nights. She is now 7 and we take it day by day. Be strong but don’t be afraid to cry if you need to.
Well be praying for a health for your son and strength for your family. If you need anything else please let us know, but I’ll be praying ❤️
Praying for your little boy 🙏🙏🙏❤️
Bless your family
Best of luck.
Dear Jamie, This is a heart wrenching account of the ebbs and flows of being a loving and commmitted parent. My prayers are with you and your husband. I look at your son's sweet face and wish the cancer would vanish! This commumity will continue to lift up prayer for all of you. Our God is able !
Every parent’s nightmare. Praying for you all.
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1hJamie, praying for you, your family and especially Gideon. August 31, 2020 my granddaughter was diagnosed with ‘ALL’ she was 19 months old. I like you was filling the Lord telling me I needed to quit my job in Ohio and moved to Florida two weeks later she was diagnosed. 1. We set up CaringBridge to alert, family and friends to daily progress or needs so that we didn’t have to answer the same questions or disseminate the same information. 2. Set up a GoFundMe account. You may feel you do not need it, but the journey is long expenses arise, and those who wish to monetarily donate to you have a resource to get this into your hands. 3. Don’t be afraid to ask for help and don’t be afraid to tell people that you need your space. 4. Get connected with your local children’s miracle network, other companies that support childhood cancers. There are many that will assist you and your social worker can help you. 5. God will carry you through this. Treatments have changed over the years doctors such as the ones we experienced at Nemours children’s Hospital were amazing resources for information and support. In God alone Mary Ann