We Fight with Kaiden Schroeder
Donation protected
We all want to help win this fight. This is a very expensive draining battle and the courage and strength Kaiden Scroeder has shown is amazing.
Here is why we are starting this fund:
by Jenny and Chris Schroeder....
Yesterday Chris, Kaiden and I went to Kansas City for a consult with Kaiden's team of doctors. They had lots of info for us, and we had many questions for them. After a lot of thinking, and several midnight talk sessions between Chris and I. We all came to a decision on what Kaiden's next step in treatment will be. Kaiden will be admitted next week, probably Monday, however, I am still waiting for a phone call on that date for sure, but it will happen next week sometime, in Kansas City. He will start a 22 day intense chemo protocol. It will involve 3 chemo drugs that he has had before, and 2 new ones, along with some steroids. The goal of this chemo is to get him back into remission. Dr. Hays said to plan on being inpatient for 4 weeks, as we have to wait for his blood counts to recover before he can be dismissed. He will then be able to come home for a short time. Once his body is recovered from the chemo, and hopefully at this point his bone marrow aspiration following the chemo shows remission, then we move onto the second part of the plan. Which includes another bone marrow transplant. This time Kaiden will have a half match donor transplant. Meaning that Chris or I will be his donor. We do not know which one yet, and after Chris and I go through all the testing that they need, they will let us know which one of us will be donating to him. The goal behind the half match transplant vs. the full match transplant he had 2 years ago from Ashlyn, is that this time there will hopefully be more of a fight in his body so that the leukemia cells are better killed off. While transplant is not something Kaiden ever wanted to go through again...he agrees with us in our decision to go forward with this plan. Of course his plan would be to play baseball all summer and not ever have to worry about going to the hospital again, he also knows that he wants to feel better, and to feel better he has to go through some more sickness. Which is a horrible thing to think about, but it is his truth.
Last week Kaiden was off of going to the doctor and it was great for him. He played in a double header last Tuesday night, and pitched 3 innings or so, and got 6 strikeouts...he was so excited. Chris and I ask him about it all the time, because the smile you get to see on his face when he tells us about it is AMAZING!! We checked his blood counts last Thursday and they were dropping...we are assuming from the leukemia going crazy in his body. Then when we were in KC yesterday and they checked them again...they are even lower, so very low. We have not seen these numbers for such a long time. His white count was under 1 (0.85), his hemoglobin was 8.3, his platelets were only 31,000 and his ANC was 180! Holy cow!! Chris and I didn't even know how to react. He is on lockdown from going anywhere other than baseball right now. I know that sounds crazy, but baseball is the one thing that makes him feel normal right now, and Dr. Hays agrees, we do not need to take that away yet. So with that said he will get to play in one last game this season this Thursday evening in Salina. Please pray that is doesn't get rained out, and that he can stay fever free and feeling decent enough to play and enjoy that one last game.
The next few months are going to be crazy for all of us. Chris and I are going to alternate weeks between being home with Ashlyn and Bryson, and being in KC with Kaiden. The good part is that the hospital doesn't have any visitor restrictions right now at least, so as long as our kiddos stay healthy they will be able to visit with each other on the weekends, when Chris and I do our switch outs. Lots of people ask how we are doing, and how Kaiden has reacted to all of this news, and it wouldn't be the truth if we told you all he was doing ok, because he isn't. If you see him and ask him, he will tell you he is Ok. But it is behind closed doors, and at bedtime when he can't sleep that he cries, and asks why, and Chris and I cry with him as we just don't have the answers. He is one tough kid and he will fight us to play and act as "normal" as possible this week we get to be home as a family before things turn crazy.
I will continue to keep everyone as updated as possible. Thank you all for the continued thoughts and prayers...we could not have gotten this far in the journey without all the amazing support we receive.
Kaiden's Play at K State
Kaiden Strong by Kelly McHugh
Here is why we are starting this fund:
by Jenny and Chris Schroeder....
Yesterday Chris, Kaiden and I went to Kansas City for a consult with Kaiden's team of doctors. They had lots of info for us, and we had many questions for them. After a lot of thinking, and several midnight talk sessions between Chris and I. We all came to a decision on what Kaiden's next step in treatment will be. Kaiden will be admitted next week, probably Monday, however, I am still waiting for a phone call on that date for sure, but it will happen next week sometime, in Kansas City. He will start a 22 day intense chemo protocol. It will involve 3 chemo drugs that he has had before, and 2 new ones, along with some steroids. The goal of this chemo is to get him back into remission. Dr. Hays said to plan on being inpatient for 4 weeks, as we have to wait for his blood counts to recover before he can be dismissed. He will then be able to come home for a short time. Once his body is recovered from the chemo, and hopefully at this point his bone marrow aspiration following the chemo shows remission, then we move onto the second part of the plan. Which includes another bone marrow transplant. This time Kaiden will have a half match donor transplant. Meaning that Chris or I will be his donor. We do not know which one yet, and after Chris and I go through all the testing that they need, they will let us know which one of us will be donating to him. The goal behind the half match transplant vs. the full match transplant he had 2 years ago from Ashlyn, is that this time there will hopefully be more of a fight in his body so that the leukemia cells are better killed off. While transplant is not something Kaiden ever wanted to go through again...he agrees with us in our decision to go forward with this plan. Of course his plan would be to play baseball all summer and not ever have to worry about going to the hospital again, he also knows that he wants to feel better, and to feel better he has to go through some more sickness. Which is a horrible thing to think about, but it is his truth.
Last week Kaiden was off of going to the doctor and it was great for him. He played in a double header last Tuesday night, and pitched 3 innings or so, and got 6 strikeouts...he was so excited. Chris and I ask him about it all the time, because the smile you get to see on his face when he tells us about it is AMAZING!! We checked his blood counts last Thursday and they were dropping...we are assuming from the leukemia going crazy in his body. Then when we were in KC yesterday and they checked them again...they are even lower, so very low. We have not seen these numbers for such a long time. His white count was under 1 (0.85), his hemoglobin was 8.3, his platelets were only 31,000 and his ANC was 180! Holy cow!! Chris and I didn't even know how to react. He is on lockdown from going anywhere other than baseball right now. I know that sounds crazy, but baseball is the one thing that makes him feel normal right now, and Dr. Hays agrees, we do not need to take that away yet. So with that said he will get to play in one last game this season this Thursday evening in Salina. Please pray that is doesn't get rained out, and that he can stay fever free and feeling decent enough to play and enjoy that one last game.
The next few months are going to be crazy for all of us. Chris and I are going to alternate weeks between being home with Ashlyn and Bryson, and being in KC with Kaiden. The good part is that the hospital doesn't have any visitor restrictions right now at least, so as long as our kiddos stay healthy they will be able to visit with each other on the weekends, when Chris and I do our switch outs. Lots of people ask how we are doing, and how Kaiden has reacted to all of this news, and it wouldn't be the truth if we told you all he was doing ok, because he isn't. If you see him and ask him, he will tell you he is Ok. But it is behind closed doors, and at bedtime when he can't sleep that he cries, and asks why, and Chris and I cry with him as we just don't have the answers. He is one tough kid and he will fight us to play and act as "normal" as possible this week we get to be home as a family before things turn crazy.
I will continue to keep everyone as updated as possible. Thank you all for the continued thoughts and prayers...we could not have gotten this far in the journey without all the amazing support we receive.
Kaiden's Play at K State
Kaiden Strong by Kelly McHugh
Organizer
Justin Barton
Organizer
Springfield, MO
