For August, we go back to Washington for Lucas Pearson who is battling ALL, and are reminded just how much we are our child’s advocate. Carrie tells us his story.

On December 10, 2022, Lucas had what seemed like a minor slip and fall. As the day progressed he would not put any weight on his right leg. After an urgent care visit we discovered that he fractured his femur. Five days later he had an appointment with orthopedics, and they set and casted his leg. He had a full hip to toe cast. That evening he began vomiting and spiked a high fever of 103.6. The next morning I took him to urgent care. He was swabbed for Covid, fly and RSV. Those all came back negative. They then swabbed for strep and that was positive. They prescribed an antibiotic and said because his fever was so high and he was lethargic that they prescribed an antibiotic dose to also treat pneumonia. Lucas never got better. We were constantly battling high fevers. I’d give him Motrin. It would maybe come down a little, but by the time an hour had passed his temp was back in the 103’s. I alternated Tylenol and Motrin and gave him his antibiotic for 48 hours before I said, “No something is wrong.” I took him back to urgent care and demanded a second look. This provider didn’t even lay eyes on him. She was cold and abrupt, and all she said is “Well, we’ve done all we can for you here. If you want you can take him to the ER.” So to the ER we went.

A few minutes after we checked in a nurse called us back for the initial triage of vitals and seeing how urgently we needed to be seen. She asked me to undress Lucas so she could look over him. She noticed a rash on his chest called petechia and that his mouth and lips were bleeding which I thought it was just from being chapped. She immediately rushed us back to a bed, and the doctor appeared within 3 minutes. This doesn’t happen in our ER unless it’s serious. He immediately ordered IV antibiotics and told me how serious this was. He was concerned about a blood infection. They drew blood for labs, swabbed for 20+ viruses, and began fluids and antibiotics. After a couple hours the doctor came back in and told me Lucas blood work mostly likely indicated leukemia. His respiratory swab also came back positive for a rhino virus. Lucas was admitted that night to the oncology unit.

December 20, the next morning, we met with the oncologist and were told the next steps. That week Lucas had a bone marrow biopsy, lumbar puncture with spinal fluid collection, and a surgery to place his port. We spent Christmas and new years in the hospital. For two weeks straight, both my husband and I slept in Lucas’s hospital room. We didn’t see our two daughters for two weeks, but we were able to get special permission to have our six year old son come into Lucas’s room for a couple hours on Christmas. Lucas stayed for a total of 25 days. He was admitted just a week or so later with rhino virus again and needed oxygen help. That delayed the next phase of treatment while he recovered. He then had a 26 day inpatient stay for count recovery after he finished phase two. He is now in phase three, and it has been interesting. He constantly has issues with his port. The chemo medications make him constipated. He gets mouth sores and appetite changes. He lost a lot of weight and the hospital nutritionist wanted to place a feeding tube. I said no and did everything in my power to add fat and calories to his diet. He did gain weight!! He’s currently delayed for the next dose because his counts are too low. This journey has been filled with ups and downs. Two times while Lucas was admitted one of our daughters was admitted too with an infection. We were bouncing between two rooms and completely and utterly exhausted. I am incredibly thankful for the staff at our hospital. They are always so happy to care for Lucas and are the most compassionate, empathetic people. I have formed lasting relationships with a lot of the nurses!

Currently, he is in the second half of delayed intensification treatment. Lucas has GoFundMe and Instagram pages if you would like to follow along in his journey. This past September, he was featured in a news story to help raise awareness for childhood cancer which can be seen here. He has also recently started home-schooling. We hope that Lucas continues to do well in his fight.