Elijah's fight against Leukemia #EliStrong

On Monday July 15th, 2019 I took Elijah to urgent care to check on his constant fever and a strange pain in his back that made him stiffen up and not want to bend over. We were sent to the emergency room at Children’s hospital to make sure he didn’t have a back injury. After running blood tests we were waiting for hours to be released. Elijah was his normal loving, fun, energetic self which gave me some insurance that it must be nothing serious. At 11 PM the doctors came in and broke the news to us that Elijah had cancer, specifically Leukemia they stated. I can’t seem to get those words out of my mind, they replay consistently. Since then Elijah has gone through multiple spinal tap procedures and bone marrow extracts resulting in the diagnosis of B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and has started several medications to include his twice a day steriod and once a week chemo treatment. It will take 3.5 years before he is fully healed and off any treatment. Elijah is 2 and a half years old. He is the sweetest most caring little boy who has continued to maintain his smile and good spirit. Through all of the chemo, needle pokes, medication doses, side effects and pain, he keeps his head up and shows us how strong he is. His strength inspires me and keeps me going when moments get hard. He loves spiderman, paw patrol, cheetos and playing with his siblings. This time has been extremely hard for my family. I am a Marine Corps Veteran who just left the service and moved to Wisconsin in June. I am now a stay at home mother and full time caregiver to my son. The costs of supplies for Elijah’s treatment, gas for traveling to and from the hospital and items purchased for Elijah’s care and comfort have been growing more and more since our return home from the hospital. We are all fighting along side elijah and supporting him every step of the way through his journey to being cured. Any contribution would be extremely helpful and I want to thank my family and friends for their continued prayers and support through Elijah’s healing journey. I also want to thank the amazing staff at Children’s hospital Wisconsin for their dedication to healing children.