Author Archives: Matthew

Today was the first day that both of the parents weren’t with Cristian for first time since diagnosis. This was tough for all us, parents and for Cristian. From our side it added a new layer of worry because of the unknown and “what if” scenarios. For Cristian there were times where he would askContinue reading “Day 5: Separation & Progress”

Based on yesterdays blood work the doctors decided to stop administering allopurinol which is meant to keep Uric Acid levels down. Unfortunately, in the blood tests this morning Cristian did have high Uric Acids levels. Uric Acid is a byproduct of cell destruction and is very hard on the kidneys. High levels of Uric AcidContinue reading “Day 4: Homesick”

Last night wasn’t very restful for Cristian since he decided to stay up late and then had multiple interruptions through the night with nurses coming in to check on him. That made Cristian more likely to have melt downs and took longer for him to calm down. Hopefully this was a result of just littleContinue reading “Day 3: Almost Time to Go Home (We Hope)”

Yesterday was a big day for Cristian, and his body needs a rest. Today was intentionally a lazy day with only meds. Following yesterday’s events Cristian was a bit resistant to any requests for checking him. Whether from the Doctors, or us parents, things took more convincing and patience today than previously. We are workingContinue reading “Day 2: Lazy Recovery Day”

This day also began early, earlier than they day before actually. Around 4am blood was drawn to determine if Cristian would need any blood treatments prior to his surgery. As this is a blood cancer, there are several ways that your blood may need assistance in order to successfully make it through something traumatic likeContinue reading “Day 1: Procedures and 1st day of Chemo”

Around 5am a small team of hospital staff came into the room to get a blood sample to be sent off for further analysis. The plan was to take blood early in the day, have the samples sent offsite for study, and to receive results confirming what illness was present. This day seemed to takeContinue reading “Day 0: Diagnosis Confirmed”

Over the past couple weeks we had noticed that Cristian’s belly was becoming more and more pushed out (distended). We thought that possibly this was a digestive issue, posture, or just part of a growth spurt. On 2/17 his belly was distended the most we had ever seen including the top portion below his ribContinue reading “Day -1: Swollen Belly and ER Trip”