Age 2 Son Stops Walking, Mother Knows it's Not Good. Then DRs Confirm Worst Fears
When you welcome a new life into the world, it can be an exciting-but-scary time. You realize just how responsible you are for another human being, and that can be daunting.
You begin to realize the dangers lurking around every corner and all the harm your little one might face.
Most parents expect to run into a few setbacks, and know there will be bumps and bruises along the way. Most don’t expect that their child will experience a life-threatening disease before they’re even 2 years old.
But at just 15 months old, Jordan Cagle was facing just such a battle. His parents knew something was up when the normally rambunctious little boy lost his energy.
It wasn’t just that the tot was tuckered out after a day of play. He was nearly lethargic, and wouldn’t eat or drink much.
“He was constantly sleeping. He didn’t want to walk, which gave us a red light,” said his mother, Denise Wilson.
Jordan had just gotten a round of immunizations, so the parents were told by staff at the ER that he would be fine.
But after a week of similar behavior and no improvement, the parents knew they had to do something more, and went to a pediatrician.
Soon they had the results, and it was nothing Wilson wanted to hear. She remembered the moment she got the results.
“I actually cried even though I was at work,” she said. “I broke down, because we knew it was something serious.”
The little boy had been diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, or ALL.
His doctor from Jimmy Everest Cancer Center, Ashley Baker, said that “His case was pretty straight forward once the doctor had done a blood count. His white count was very elevated and you could see his blast on a blood smear.”
Fortunately, after just one round of chemotherapy, there was a remarkable improvement in the toddler’s energy levels.
“He responded great to the first month of therapy,” said Dr. Baker, “which gives us hope that we’ll be able to cure his cancer for leukemia. The first 28 days are an important time frame in ALL therapy.”
With Jordan responding so well to treatment, and with high survival rates for this type of cancer, Wilson is hopeful that it will all turn out well.
“He’s going to beat it, that’s what I think,” she said. “He’s amazing with all the treatment and medicine. The people are amazing here, the nurses, the doctors, they’re amazing here.”
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