Funding Conner's Cancer Treatment
Many people have asked about Conner's full story and I have tried to give a recap of the past seven years below. Conner is currently on treatment, he takes chemotherapy daily, and we travel to Birmingham every three weeks for additional treatment in his port and up his spine and to run tests. Conner has healed, all of his body parts have healed, and statistically we know that most likely the strong tcell cancer is hiding. We PRAY and listen often and know that God hasn't brought Conner this far for nothing. Conner will start school in a few months and I am returning to work. Finding our new normal is the second hardest thing that I have experienced in life. It is something that I can't explain in words. I am a full time caregiver, and a single parent, therefore I am not able to work.
Here is Conner's recap of the past seven years:
Our lives were forever changed when Conner was diagnosed ALL Leukemia (T-cell) at the age of three. After three and a half years of chemotherapy and radiation therapy Conner spent 24 months off of treatment and cancer free. Sadly, Conner relapsed on Thursday, October 10, 2013. He is currently receiving maintenance chemotherapy treatments in Birmingham at Children’s Hospital.
Conner’s Story: In May of 2008 Conner was diagnosed with Tcell ALL Leukemia at the age of three. Treatment entails complicated risk assignment and therapies and the need for intensive supportive care (e.g., transfusions; management of infectious complications; and emotional, financial, and developmental support), and I am a single mother with no support from the father or his family with any of our medical or increased expenses.
After three and a half years of intensive chemotherapy and full cranial radiation therapy Conner spent 18 months off of treatment and we thought that he was cancer free. We believed that cancer had a beginning, middle and end and used our life experiences to reach out and love others that were dealing with similar situations.
Sadly, Conner relapsed on Thursday, October 10, 2013. Relapse of T-cell ALL Leukemia does not come with a good prognosis. Patients with relapsed T-cell ALL have much lower rates of achieving a cure with than do patients with B-cell ALL. Conner did achieve remission. For patients with T-cell ALL who achieved remission after bone marrow relapse, outcomes with postreinduction chemotherapy alone have generally been poor since patients have already undergone treatment for the disease. The treatment plan for Conner involved heavy chemotherapy and a Bone Marrow Transplant. We found a match and Conner’s transplant was scheduled for February 2014.
Unfortunately, Conner’s little body could not handle the chemotherapy treatment required for the Bone Marrow Transplant. On December 13, 2013 Conner had a fever of 103.8 and then 105.3 before we could reach the hospital. The culture results confirmed that Conner had E. coli, short for Escherichia coli, in his blood and throughout his body. E. coli is a type of bacteria commonly found in our intestines, but with Conner's compromised immune system it had spread into his blood. E. coli produces a powerful toxin that caused severe illness, including bacterial, fungal 
and viral infections, and he spent 74 days in the PICU and in a coma. Conner digressed quickly and some of the complications that he experienced included a tumor on his brain and lesions on his lungs, liver and spleen internally with them covering his body externally. Conner had three lung hemorrhages and the ventilators that were holding back the bleeding were literally causing ventilator induced lung damage. Conner was on full dialysis multiple times and coded with his heart four times. The team of physicians gave him less than 1% chance of survival through Christmas 2013.
Chronic ARDS = Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome was the primary issue and after much prayer we decided not to extubatne him again, and we gave him a tracheostomy. Conner learned to breathe, eat, drink, communicate, sit up, crawl, walk, and more while we continued fighting the infections with various antibiotics. He was moved out of the PICU and spent several months in the hospital. He was released from in patient treatment and continues outpatient treatment today. Conner is truly a miracle and we live each day making the most of our lives. We have lived in survival mode for a year now, while Conner has been healing through lots of hard work including PT, OT, daily chemotherapy, a compromised immune system and lots of counseling for anger management and emotional healing. He is doing well and we see no evidence of cancer. We give all of the glory to God and as you look through the pictures you will see the miraculous transformation in his body over the past year and a half.
As we are finding our new normal, we have had lots of stuff to deal with over the past few months and and nothing mattered, but everything mattered. Conner lived, and God has great plans for him. Most days we are good and life really is beautiful. It's time to return to the real world, and we have a plan that should work, but we are in a deep hole financially since I am a single mother and full time caregiver to Conner. I will be returning to work, and Conner will be returning to school, the first week of August. This should help significantly.
We have learned that life can be unpredictably cruel and painful, and that people can be unpredictably loving and caring. We continue to travel a tumultuous emotional path of overwhelming grief, pain and sadness in dealing with this cancer. We have also developed marvelous friendships with other families that are sharing, or have shared, this battle and found an amazing lifeline of support from friends, family and even strangers. Your posts of encouragement on this page and on CaringBridge continue to give Conner hope and make him smile.Thank you for your support, prayers and love. We will survive this only by the grace of God and sincerely appreciate your love, support and encouragement.
I will be able to work in July and August part time and I can work full time when Conner goes to school. We are ready to GIVE back and stop asking for help...it isn't easy being on the asking for help end and we are doing this for the final time. We NEED HELP to pay our rent, have food, fuel, and vehicle repairs to travel to physician appointments. We WILL be paying it forward soon; we always have. Donations can be made here on-line, or to Sweetwater Apts directly, and we are more than happy to receive casseroles or any cooked food, to accept uncooked food and/or prepaid cards for gas or food. Your donation of ANY amount is greatly appreciated and will help to get us out of this hole. Thank you for your kind consideration. 
Conner’s Story: In May of 2008 Conner was diagnosed with Tcell ALL Leukemia at the age of three. Treatment entails complicated risk assignment and therapies and the need for intensive supportive care (e.g., transfusions; management of infectious complications; and emotional, financial, and developmental support), and I am a single mother with no support from the father or his family. I am currently taking him to court.
After three and a half years of intensive chemotherapy and full cranial radiation therapy Conner spent 18 months off of treatment and we thought that he was cancer free. We believed that cancer had a beginning, middle and end and used our life experiences to reach out and love others that were dealing with similar situations.
Sadly, Conner relapsed on Thursday, October 10, 2013. Relapse of T-cell ALL Leukemia does not come with a good prognosis. Patients with relapsed T-cell ALL have much lower rates of achieving a cure with than do patients with B-cell ALL. Conner did achieve remission. For patients with T-cell ALL who achieved remission after bone marrow relapse, outcomes with postreinduction chemotherapy alone have generally been poor since patients have already undergone treatment for the disease. The treatment plan for Conner involved heavy chemotherapy and a Bone Marrow Transplant. We found a match and Conner’s transplant was scheduled for February 2014.
Unfortunately, Conner’s little body could not handle the chemotherapy treatment required for the Bone Marrow Transplant. On December 13, 2013 Conner had a fever of 103.8 and then 105.3 before we could reach the hospital. The culture results confirmed that Conner had E. coli, short for Escherichia coli, in his blood and throughout his body. E. coli is a type of bacteria commonly found in our intestines, but with Conner's compromised immune system it had spread into his blood. E. coli produces a powerful toxin that caused severe illness, including bacterial, fungal and viral infections, and he spent 74 days in the PICU and in a coma. Conner digressed quickly and some of the complications that he experienced included a tumor on his brain and lesions on his lungs, liver and spleen internally with them covering his body externally. Conner had three lung hemorrhages and the ventilators that were holding back the bleeding were literally causing ventilator induced lung damage. Conner was on full dialysis multiple times and coded with his heart four times. The team of physicians gave him less than 1% chance of survival through Christmas 2013.
Chronic ARDS = Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome was the primary issue and after much prayer we decided not to extubatne him again, and we gave him a tracheostomy. Conner learned to breathe, eat, drink, communicate, sit up, crawl, walk, and more while we continued fighting the infections with various antibiotics. He was moved out of the PICU and spent several months in the hospital. He was released from in patient treatment and continues outpatient treatment today. Conner is truly a miracle and we live each day making the most of our lives. We have lived in survival mode for a year now, while Conner has been healing through lots of hard work including PT, OT, daily chemotherapy, a compromised immune system and lots of counseling for anger management and emotional healing.
I was terminated from my job when we returned home, and am currently in court with my business partner working to try and get it back. She says that cancer complicates things, and I certainly agree with that. I have taken a job with Estee Lauder and have been unable to work due to complications and sickness in Conner. As we are finding our new normal, we have had lots of stuff to deal with over the past few months and and nothing mattered, but everything mattered. Conner lived, and God has great plans for him. Most days we are good and life really is beautiful. It's time to return to the real world, and we have a plan that should work, but we are in a deep hole and really need this help to get back on our feet. 
Easter 2014
Easter 2015
Our lives have been forever changed and Easter will never have the same meaning. We lost the earthly life of a precious child that Conner has battled beside for five years and has touched our lives in deep and meaningful ways. While we celebrate the fact that Easter proves that Morgan has eternal life, and we are blessed to know that she is no longer in pain, we miss her terribly. Morgan is one of many friends and family members that we have lost to this disease, and most of them taught us more about life and how to REALLY live through their battles with cancer...in fact all of them have. We do mourn the loss of the life that was here and we continue to dedicate our lives to #LoveLikeMorgan. Satan does not win this battle, and he won't win our war. We know that God has this and we honor Him and give Him all of the Glory for every moment that we do have on this earth. Thank you for your love, support, prayers and healing. Love, Peace & Health from Conner's mom.
God's healing continues. Conner is currently on maintenance treatment therapy for the third time in his life. His organs continue to heal, and we continue to pray, knowing that God has a plan for all of this. Conner takes chemotherapy daily and we travel for treatment twice a month to Birmingham. He gets additional chemotherapy in his port and in spinal taps and we test the fluid in his spine for evidence of disease quarterly and his blood every other week. The travel is expensive, along with the treatments, and contributions continue to carry us. It is a vicious roller coaster ride of ups and downs, and we are working to try and find a new normal for our lives. There is really nothing normal about this, but it is our normal and we work
to live each day fully. We love life and use our experiences to reach out and touch the lives of others giving them hope and comfort. God has blessed us with more life for Conner, and more love from friends and strangers, than we ever imagined. Conner's story is one of triumph over tribulation and has many miracles. We give all of the glory to God and look forward to what He has planned for us going forward.
Our lives were forever changed when Conner was diagnosed with leukemia in May of 2008 at the age of three. Conner fought Tcell ALL Leukemia for three and a half years
awareness to support organizations that help to find a cure. Conner replapsed on October 10, 2013 and we quickly learned that this battle is on a different level. The cancer is stronger than the treatment and
the treatment will kill Conner quicker than the cancer. In fact, it almost did.
Conner is still on treatment and we are walking the fine line of giving him enough chemotherapy to keep the cancer away while his body heals enough for a bone marrow transplant, and not giving him too much chemotherapy that it kills him. We are treasuring every moment and thankful for these blessings.
Conner survived three lung hemorages and full dyalisis in addition to coding with his heart four times. As a single mother, my full time job is taking care of Conner. It is a full time job and we travel often for treatment since the nearest treatment facility is four hours away from our hometown. Conner has survived all of this by the Grace of God and it is not something that we take lightly.
