Thursday, May 26. School is finally out. Joey just finished 3rd grade, and Johnny 1st. We had a great school year, but we were all looking forward to summer! No schedules, no hurrying or worrying about what or where we have to do or go. We packed up the cars just enough so that we could still fit people and dogs to go down to Galveston for the summer, possibly forever! But Johnny didn’t feel well. I decided to take him to the doctors “just in case”. Although for some reason, I had a feeling it was serious. I made the appointment for 7:50 PM that night. In the meantime, I looked up his symptoms on the internet. “Pale-weak”. Most of the topics that popped up talked about infants, but at the bottom of each page the key word “leukemia” kept coming up too. I finally got the courage to click on it. Most cancer symptoms are pretty vague, almost flu-like. Then my heart stopped and my blood ran cold. I came to a symptom that was specific to leukemia and Johnny. Gum problems. He had been having problems with his crowns for almost a month and a half now. I had taken him to the dentist 3 times within that time frame, and each time we thought we solved the problem. But with leukemia, the problem only worsens.
Finally it was time for our appointment. I tried to stay calm as I described Johnny’s symptoms to the nurse. Weak, low energy, pale, low grade fever. She made a comment about how pale he looked. Then I told her about his gums. And at that moment we both knew what was going on. The doctor came in with concern on her face, but didn’t say anything. I told her the same symptoms I told the nurse. As she felt around his stomach (I always wondered why they did that), she very gravely turned to me and said, as calmly as she could, “I can feel his spleen and liver”. I lost it. I called Mike. I called my mom. Mike dropped the kids off at my parents and met us up at the doctor’s office. The nurse drew blood, because after all, it still could be a viral thing — right? When the results came back, the doctor came in and told us to go straight to Texas Children’s Hospital at the Medical Center. Her parting words were a little unnerving coming from a doctor; “I’ll pray for you. Be strong”.
Within two hours and a couple of tests at TCH emergency room, our worst fears were confirmed. Yes, our seven year old child has Leukemia. Johnny was admitted on the last day of school, May 26, and stayed until Wednesday, June 1.