#ConnorStrong

April 27th, 2020 started the longest journey for my cousin Danielle (Murphy), her husband Joe Satterwhite, and their son Connor.

Connor is a 4-year-old little boy who loves doing normal little boy things. That night, as he was playing and being his goofy self, he fell. Connor let out a different cry than normal. Danielle ran over to him and something told her that this fall was different than times before. He told her it hurt to sit, and that he would rather lay down. She had called her sister and brother-in-law since he works in the Emergency Department at the hospital. He had her move Connor around to see if anything was broken or if they could locate the pain better. It didn’t seem to be more than just a simple fall, but she was going to keep an eye on him until the morning. When the morning came it was even harder for Connor to get around and they knew something wasn’t right.

That day, Joe had taken him to the pediatrician and again the doctor couldn’t find anything wrong with him. They instructed Joe to take him home and just keep an eye on him for any changes. When Danielle was getting him dressed for bed that night, she checked his little body to see if she noticed any changes – good or bad. When she got to his left knee, there seemed to be more sensitivity with it and there were red dots on his back and elbows that made her wonder if it was something viral.

Danielle and Joe waited the two days as instructed by the pediatrician, even though their gut was telling them something wasn’t right. On the morning of April 30th, when Danielle was getting him dressed, she noticed his left knee and thigh were swollen and he was having difficulty walking. She called the doctors office and was able to get a follow-up appointment for later that afternoon.

As she was waiting for the doctor to come into the room, she started taking Connor’s hoodie off and got him situated. As she did that, she immediately noticed that he had dark bruises on his body along with more of the red dots. When the doctor came in, he immediately asked about the bruises. Danielle was at a loss for words because they weren’t there before. Panic came across the doctor’s face. He knew. Immediately, he called for x-rays and lab work. The doctor was being extremely vague in his reasoning of why the lab work needed to be done, making Danielle even more worried.

‘I think your son might have cancer, but I need to run more tests’ was the next thing out of his mouth.

Her world stopped as she tried to comprehend what was just said to her. From there, she called Joe and told him that he needed to meet her and Connor because Connor was being directly admitted to Geisinger hospital.

Connor was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL).

By Monday, June 4th, he was having surgery to place a port-a-cath for him to receive chemo, a bone marrow aspiration, and a spinal tap that also included chemo.

There have been a lot of ups and downs, but through everything Connor has continued to crack jokes and keep his fun-loving, positive attitude. There has already been such a huge outpouring of love and support, so this seemed to be the easiest way for donations. There is also a link below that will take you to a website to be able to purchase t-shirts and other merchandise if you would like to support that way.

There is a long road ahead for the Satterwhite’s, but one thing is for sure: cancer will never be able to define Connor and he will continue to come out on top of every obstacle that is thrown his way.

They thank you for all your prayers and love.  #ConnorStrong


Link to #ConnorStrong merchandise: https://www.stadiumandgale.com/connorstrong