Noah S.
Tennessee
Birth Date: December 3, 2014
Diagnosis: B-Cell ALL
Theme: Realistic Puppies
Due Date: December 1, 2020
Noah's Story
On June 27th, 2018, our three and a half-year-old son, Noah, began falling and complaining of pain in his left leg. He also was having severe stomach pain and labored breathing. Three days later, we went to the ER and were admitted for testing and observation. All of his tests and labs came back normal. For the next four weeks, we were back and forth to different doctors trying to figure out why Noah continued to have difficulty walking, labored breathing, severe abdominal pain, intermittent fevers, nose bleeds, and the need to sleep all the time. One Sunday afternoon, as Noah once again had a low-grade fever and wanted to nap, I asked him what was wrong. He responded with, "Mommy, I am very sick. You have to help me."
Finally, Noah's second GI panel came back abnormal showing that he had bacterial overgrowth. This led us to a GI specialist who ran blood work. On July 24th, our GI specialist called and said all of Noah's labs were abnormal. She said there was no way his labs could be that abnormal and that she thought the test was skewed. I asked her if he could have some form of cancer and she said, "If these labs are correct, then I am very concerned for his health." She sent us to the ER to be retested. Before I called my husband at work, I looked up every abnormal lab that she had mentioned. His platelets were at 9,000, his neutrophils were at zero, and his white and red blood cell counts were low. Every abnormal lab I looked up said "Leukemia." The next day, Dr. Spiller confirmed my suspicions.
We never realized how hard our journey with leukemia would be. Noah had instant complications. From hypertension to tachycardia, to pericardial effusion, and a staph infection in which his port was removed and a PICC line was placed. Everything was spiraling out of control. Noah even had a reaction to the plasma in the platelets which landed him in PICU. He ended up losing 15% of his body weight on steroids and needed a feeding tube for three and a half months. He also developed severe neuropathy, was bedridden and could only move his eyes. He was unable to walk for two and a half months.
Noah was in OT and is still in PT, but he is up running again with a brace. He is in remission, but still in active treatment.
"Thank you so very much for Noah's quilt. He loves it very much and slept with it last night. This means so much to us! It is just perfect."
