My Grandson!! Born August 21, 1998. He's been such a delight to us and everyone he encounters. Isn't he the most beautiful child you've ever seen?
Unfortunately, things have not gone well for Brandon. He has always had colds and we always thought he either had allergies or he was constantly teething. Then all of a sudden he started showing signs of weakness and he was limping. He also started showing some bruising. His parents took him to three clinics before a retired pediatrician who happened to be filling in for someone that day (bless his heart) ordered up some blood work and it was discovered that Brandon had leukemia. He was taken to Childrens Hospital in Vancouver where he was immediately hooked up to IV and drugs were administered. They obtained some bone marrow from him and determined that he had ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia). The only good thing about this particular type of leukemia (cancer) is that it is 90% curable. He has received many blood transfusions and chemotherapy has been started. He will need to be in treatment for three years and then watched for five.
It's been a very hard time for the entire family to accept that this 28th month old has this disease, but we are dealing with it positively. We take our strength from Brandon who, through all of the invasive pokes and pricks of needles and everything else he has had to endure, has remained the smiley, lovable, joyful child he's always been. He has accepted that he is going through a trying time and if he can accept it, so shall we.
UPDATE (December, 2000):
At the present time, Brandon is in remission. However, the doctors gave him massive doses of chemotherapy to ensure the leukemia does not return. Just last week (beginning of December) marked the end of heavy doses of chemo and also steroids to combat the disease which provoked some pretty tough mood swings. He developed an infection and was admitted to Childrens' Hospital to receive large doses of antibiotic treatment as any infection he develops while his cell counts are low can be life threatening.
It's been hard on his parents, both mentally and physically. But it's been hard on Brandon as well as he doesn't understand all the different things that are happening to him or why. For now we just continue to hope and pray that he will be all right in the end and take the time to give him extra special hugs and love that he needs.
A Special Note:
Our deepest thanks to all those wonderful Lions Club Members from all over the world who have been sending Brandon so many cards! His Mom shows him the card and tells him where it's from and he claps his hands!! These cards will certainly be a great treasure to him for when he gets older, he'll be able to read the cards and see all the wonderful people who took the time to send him their best wishes. |
