HISTORY

Casper was diagnosed with Pre-B ALL on February 23rd following a Biopsy in a lump he had developed in his lymph gland a month earlier. This came as quite a shock to us, as we had been to the doctor several times trying to determine what the lump was. During our first doctor visit back in January, our doctor did a comprehensive work-up on the little guy with blood tests and x-rays, and everything came back looking normal. Casper was feeling well, and had none of the classic symptoms, so it was just assumed that there was an infection in the lymph gland and we were given antibiotics and sent on our way. Over the weekend, the swelling around his lump decreased, everyone seemed to sigh with relief thinking that Casper was on the mend. The lump never disappeared completely, and after the antibiotics had ended, we started to notice Casper was complaining that his lump was "owie" and it had started to increase in size again. Physically, other than looking a little pale, he appeared well and was full of energy.

At this point our doctor made the wise choice to have it biopsied before trying any other form of treatment. Casper went in immediately for the surgery the same day. The surgery seemed to go very well. The surgeon told us he was pretty confident that this was just some sort of infection, and he said he wasn't going to "lose any sleep over worrying about the results of the biopsy." Again, we all let out a sigh of relief, Casper's blood levels were still within normal range, and other than looking a little palid his energy was good so we were pretty confident this would all now be behind us.

Over the weekend after the surgery, Casper woke up one morning complaining of a "coffee headache" :0). I (Maria) gave him some tylenol and he was ok, and then the day before getting the call with the results Casper started to complain about "back pain". This was the first time I got a very sick feeling within me that perhaps this lump may not be so benign, as it just seemed unusual for someone of his age to complain of such a thing.

On Tuesday the 23rd February Casper and I were just about ready to head out the door with his lunch in tow to go to his nursery school, Sunflower House, when the phone rang. It was Casper's Doctor, she and asked me to come over to her office to discuss the results right away. Although the diagnosis wasn't formally given over the phone, I knew what was to come, and as we loaded up in the car I was very aware that our lives had just completely changed, and there was no going back to the place I had been 10 minutes before.

An hour later, we checked into OHSU, where we would spend the next few days learning about Casper's diagnosis, treatment options, prognosis and all that good stuff.