Donations for David
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David's story:
It was December 23, 2013. David and I were visiting grandma. We were having fun playing together. He got a kick out of sliding down my legs onto the huge pet pillow grandma had! After sliding down for the umpteenth time, I told David to hold on, and I'd be right back. About a minute later, I heard David whining. I found him rolling around on the pet pillow holding his tummy. He kept saying "Ow, ow". David can be quite the dramatic child, so I told him to get up. I figured he was just wanting attention. He wouldn't listen and kept rolling around. I told him to get up, or he would get in trouble, and that he was scaring me. I asked grandma to come in (she's a nurse). Dad was there too and joined us. Dad tried to pick David up. He was limp. My mom then called 911. When asked, dad put David in my arms. He was clammy and limp. His lips were ashen. I was panicking and crying. About a minute or two passed when David came to. He said, "mom, I'm okay. Don't cry". We called 911 back to cancel the ambulance, but they said they still had to come (I'm glad they did).
We quizzed David on what happened. He said he remembered that his stomach was hurting, and he was afraid he was going to die. I about lost it. I rode in the ambulance with David. He took it like a champ when they pricked his finger. Even when they did the IV at the hospital he didn't cry. They did standard procedures such as an urinalysis and a complete blood count. As we were waiting, I was convincing myself that this whole thing was a fluke and that maybe he ate something bad or took something that he wasn't telling us. When the nurse came in and told us his blood work was abnormal, I knew something was not right. She would not tell us what was going on and insisted that we wait for the doctor. The doctor came in soon after. All I heard was "70% blasts". I didn't need to hear anything else. I knew....
On December 24, 2013, we got the diagnosis we were already expecting.....Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. They told us that they would make arrangements for us to get treatment at St. Jude in Memphis. We didn't hesitate in our decision. We drove down on Christmas Day.
It was December 23, 2013. David and I were visiting grandma. We were having fun playing together. He got a kick out of sliding down my legs onto the huge pet pillow grandma had! After sliding down for the umpteenth time, I told David to hold on, and I'd be right back. About a minute later, I heard David whining. I found him rolling around on the pet pillow holding his tummy. He kept saying "Ow, ow". David can be quite the dramatic child, so I told him to get up. I figured he was just wanting attention. He wouldn't listen and kept rolling around. I told him to get up, or he would get in trouble, and that he was scaring me. I asked grandma to come in (she's a nurse). Dad was there too and joined us. Dad tried to pick David up. He was limp. My mom then called 911. When asked, dad put David in my arms. He was clammy and limp. His lips were ashen. I was panicking and crying. About a minute or two passed when David came to. He said, "mom, I'm okay. Don't cry". We called 911 back to cancel the ambulance, but they said they still had to come (I'm glad they did).
We quizzed David on what happened. He said he remembered that his stomach was hurting, and he was afraid he was going to die. I about lost it. I rode in the ambulance with David. He took it like a champ when they pricked his finger. Even when they did the IV at the hospital he didn't cry. They did standard procedures such as an urinalysis and a complete blood count. As we were waiting, I was convincing myself that this whole thing was a fluke and that maybe he ate something bad or took something that he wasn't telling us. When the nurse came in and told us his blood work was abnormal, I knew something was not right. She would not tell us what was going on and insisted that we wait for the doctor. The doctor came in soon after. All I heard was "70% blasts". I didn't need to hear anything else. I knew....
On December 24, 2013, we got the diagnosis we were already expecting.....Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. They told us that they would make arrangements for us to get treatment at St. Jude in Memphis. We didn't hesitate in our decision. We drove down on Christmas Day.
Organizer
Cat Moore
Organizer
Peoria, IL
