Timmy - Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)

He was admitted that very day to the children's hospital and received inpatient treatment, including chemotherapy, for the next seven months. Since his hospitalization was also during the throes of the Covid pandemic, he was isolated from his siblings and had to switch between his dad and mom during the week. His chemotherapy treatments were increidlby intense and to the highest levels a body can endure, so he had to remain in the hospital as his immune system was completely depleted and any exposure to a bacteria or fungus/mold (which we are all exposed to daily) could very quickly be life-threatening without immediate care.

Watching a child endure such treatments and fight for their life is truly indescribable and agonizing, especially to a parent. It has been a life-changing, harrowing experience for our family.  Timmy was released from the hospital on January 1, 2021 and continued receiving outpatient treatment until May 2021. He still visits the cancer clinic at least monthly and sometimes more to deal with the effects of his cancer treatments. He continues to fight, as AML is notorious for finding a way back. We live in hope at he will remain in remission forever, but it is a lingering daily fear as relapse is a common reality with this disease. It will be years before he is considered "cured" and he will likely deal with serious long-term side effects due to the intensity of his cancer treatments. We hope that treatments and cures for all childhood cancers will someday soon be far less horrific and far more successful and that they will lead to more tolerable long-term effects for survivors. That can only be accomplished through increased awareness so that substantially more funds can be focused on research for exceedingly better and more drugs and approaches to caring for the most innocent and vulnerable of our society- our children.