Ethan was a typical 3 year old boy prior to his diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Being a typical boy, he would have occasional bruises on his arms or legs from rough playing with his brothers. Approximately 1 month prior to Ethan’s diagnosis, he was noted to have more bruising than normal on his extremities. Two weeks prior, he was also noted to have a limp. He did incur a fall while walking his bicycle so the symptom was brushed off. However, he continued to have increased bruising, now appearing on his trunk. We took Ethan to his pediatrician and insisted on getting blood work checked. On Wednesday, June 9th, 2021. We received a call from the pediatrician’s office and was told to go straight to the ER as Ethan’s hemoglobin was low, requiring blood transfusion. His labs also showed signs of leukemia so we needed to go right away. This night forever changed our lives.
Since Ethan’s initial diagnosis day, he has gone through more than 450 days of treatment with intravenous, intrathecal, intramuscular, and oral chemotherapy. Ethan has endured 3 bone marrow aspirations/biopsies, countless lumbar punctures, blood and platelets transfusions. There were many late night ER runs due to fever and more than a month of combined hospital stays. Despite all that he endured, Ethan came out strong in November 2021 by achieving remission. He completed intense treatment in July 2022 and started maintenance in August. Currently, Ethan is looking forward to starting pre-kindergarten at a local Catholic school.
Throughout Ethan’s year of treatment, he has encountered many different organizations and foundations that have helped to lift his spirit. Ethan was introduced to the Dragonfly Foundation in December 2021. The organization went above and beyond to give, not only Ethan, but the entire family a memorable Christmas. They helped Ethan and siblings forget about the daily struggles with treatment and just enjoy being children again.
