David S.
Georgia
Birth Date - May 16, 2012
Diagnosis - ALL
Theme: SUPERHEROES - Special request for Thor, Captain America, Batman, Spiderman, and Hulk
Due Date: 2/1/18
David's Story
In late 2016 David had swollen lymph nodes. We took him to the doctor. He was tested for strep and mono and both tests came back negative. They decided to treat him for strep because they felt that's what it was. They didn't do a blood test ... just a throat swab. We went home with antibiotics and steroids. His lymph nodes went down. We thought he was getting better. After he finished the antibiotics and steroids his lymph nodes started to swell again, and he started complaining of not being able to breathe "right". We took him back to the doctor two more times, with the same results each time. Again no blood work was done and no xray.
When it started again we decided to take him to the University of Birmingham Hospital. They took blood and did an xray. About 30 minutes latter a nurse took David out of the room. We new immediately that it was something bad! The doctor told us the test results indicated David had cancer. There was a mass covering his heart and both lungs. We met with the hematology and oncology teams. They told us David had leukemia.
He was admitted and they started him on dexamethasone the next day to try and break up the mass in his chest. It took about 3 weeks of steroids and him sleeping sitting up before the next xray. That xray showed the mass was almost completely gone! They kept him on steroids for another week and then started chemotherapy. We were in the hospital for 6 weeks before we were able to take him home. About a month latter we got the great news that he was in remission!
After one of his clinic trips for chemotherapy where he received Peg asparaginase, he complained about abdominal pain and his tummy was swelling. He started having a fever along with the pain, and was admitted. After about 3 weeks of him not eating, they finally had answers! He had an allergic reaction to the peg which caused pancreatitis. We stayed in the hospital for another 2 to 3 weeks before we were able to take him home again.
We have since moved to Georgia so he can be treated at Scottish Rite Childrens Hospital. He has only been sick one time since, and was in the hospital for about a week. We are done with the in-hospital treatments and are going to clinic weekly. He is doing great and started kindergarten recently. He loves it! David has two sisters and a brother. They have been so loving and supportive to their brother it just melts my heart.
