Inspirational Stories

My son, Jaiden was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) on November 21, 2018. Prior to his diagnosis, Jaiden was a very well-rounded athlete and he played almost every sport, until one day during a football he fractured his arm and was done for the season. Needless to say, he was in a cast for 6 weeks.

After his cast was removed and he was cleared to play sports, it was now basketball season. As the weeks went on, he was always tired and constantly complaining of a headache. His pediatrician advised me to take him to eye doctor to see if his vision changed which it did but not by much. I thought that his headaches would go away but they didn’t. Because he was always tired, I finally took him to his pediatrician and she ordered some blood work.

After getting those results, she notified me that he was very anemic and that his blood counts were dangerously high and advised me to take him to Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, OH. It was that evening, the day before Thanksgiving when we received the devastating news. Immediately, the doctors took control and began treatment.

On December 24, 2018, he went into remission, but I knew our journey was far from being over.

Fast forward to today, Jaiden is still in remission and is currently in maintenance and is doing extremely well. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) has made life for us so much better financially because of all the support we have received. I will forever be grateful to this organization. The difference LLS makes is life changing.