The Story of a Super-Hero’s Sidekick
Caleb was diagnosed with ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia) on August 10th. He had been complaining of leg and arm pain intermittantly for a couple of weeks. A Pediatric Orthopedist thought he may have fractured bones and they casted his arm and leg. Children under the age of 5 often don’t show fractures on X-ray, so based on mobility tests, this was how he felt best to treat him. After a short time, he began having severe pain in the uncasted leg as well. The doctor suggested running some blood tests which revealed the leukemia.
He was immediately admitted to Health Park Medical Center where he underwent a spinal tap, bone marrow extraction, chemotherapy and port placement. He did wonderfully with the procedures and has since been released to his home pending test results to further determine the next steps and severity of disease.
He has since been upgraded to “High Risk” status as he has a low chromosomal count called “Hypodiploid ALL”, which requires a bone marrow transplant. This will be done in the near future pending a good bone marrow match. Please continue to pray for good health, strength and patience!
On Wednesday, March 26th, 2008, Caleb was complaining of leg and lower back pain. We called the Dr and he came right over to the house. He wanted an MRI on his lower back to see if there might have been pressure from a tumor on his spinal cord, that could cause paralisis. The next mornning we hussled to the hospital for the MRI and due to Caleb’s age he needed general anasthesia. Under the anasthesia his oxygen saturation dropped and they put him on a respirator. We were forced to make a decision to pull the tube. The Dr’s warned us that he would probably not be able to breath on his own…He did…After about an hour in the hospital they sent us home. Caleb hated the hospital. He always just wanted to be home. When we got home he was in and out of conciousness. We were able to talk to him…tell him we loved him (and he answered)…hold him…kiss him…and most of all love him. On Friday, March 28th, at 4:30 AM Caleb took his last breath and went home to be with the Lord.
You can read up on Caleb’s story/blog here:
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/calebwhan
