Cole

Cole is 5 years old and is fighting high risk Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia since March 25, 2014. How it all started: We had just started our family vacation on a Thursday when we realized multiple bruises on his legs. A few weeks prior we noticed he was sleeping more and eating less and complaining of leg pain. We figured it was just a growth spurt. We then noticed tiny red dots in his skin. Friday night he started throwing up with a fever. Saturday morning he woke up feeling much better but all the lymph nodes in his neck and head were swollen. At that point we decided we were going to make an appointment first thing Monday morning to figure out what was going on. That night we googled the symptoms and the first thing that popped up was leukemia. We thought NO WAY that can’t be. It HAS to be something else. Monday morning we took him in after multiple tests and 2 doctors opinions Cole’s doctor finally shared her concern. She told us we need to go straight to the ER that she has already called and they have a room waiting for us. That moment our life was turned upside down. We remember it like it was yesterday. Tears still fall down my face and I a numb feeling of helplessness. Since then Cole has had multiple surgeries including his PICC line and port placement, hundreds of pokes for blood work, weeks of sleepovers at the hospital, he has had multiple spinal taps, x-rays, echos, EKG’s, medications, ultra sounds, blood, platelets, and IVIG infusions. He has lost his hair twice now. He has been in remission since April 2014, but still has over 2 and a half years of chemo left. He is doing great though and has just started maintenance as of Dec 2014. COFC helped Cole have a “get away spot” to be a kid and forget all the hospital and chemo stuff.

Dana, Cole’s mom