Jake our oldest was diagnosed with AML ( Acute Myeloid Leukemia ) when he was 4 years old on April 21. We never would have imagined it to happen to us especially to him at such a young age. I remember how we found it out, the words cancer are the most painful words a parent can possibly hear. Jake had been really sick with mostly flu like symptoms so I just thought it was Strep. After a few weeks of the 'flu' Worried I brought him to the doctor and immediately she sent us to do tests. She never told me she thought it was cancer , so as we waited in the lobby of the pediatric center i thought ' Oh, he's fine just a slight fever ' but when the Oncologist told me i should call James so we could hear this together, my world basically feel apart. We started treatment immediately and did what ever we could. The year was filled with hospital stays to doctor appointments to ' back pokes' ( lumber punctures ) to treatment and it was the same cycle every week. Jake would get a slight fever , we'd run down to the hospital they would tell us to go home and we'd be okay with some meds. We get home give Jake the new meds and then he'd get a huge nose bleed and have to rush back to the hospital. The hospital would then admit Jake to stay for overnight observation for 3 days ( where he'd seem to get a lot better ) and send him home. Within two days of being home we were right back at the hospital. Our longest hospital stay that years was 47 days straight. After a long year of fighting AML the first time Jakers went into remission exactly a month after his 5th birthday ( July 16th ) ! He got tested regularly for any chances of AML coming back into his system. Just 3 months into remission they found small traces of it back in his blood system causing him to be in relapse ( October 6th ). Immediately we tried chemotherapy ( again ), this time Jake seemed to take to it and was doing well. This past January ( 23rd ) Jake has beat the odds yet again and is in remission for the second time in 2 years ! We hope we stay this way for a LONG time. Jacob is an amazing boy , he was the one to help everyone get through this. With everything that has gone on with him in such a short time he can sure keep the smile on his face , gotta love this kid .
This was Jake in the hospital for the first time :
- He's changed a lot between the first picture and the next one. He had to get his head shaved and he lost about 40 pounds during the first year alone, he's changed a lot and now to look at him he's like a prefect ordinary boy !
This is him just lat week !
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My son, my hero - Jake Casper's Story
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