As written by Sam's parents -
Sam was an active boy who loves running around with his older siblings and playing basketball. It was obvious that something was wrong at his first basketball game of the season when he was having an unusually hard time keeping up with his teammates. A few weeks later, as we were picking Sam up from kindergarten, we noticed he couldn’t hold his backpack or push the door open. His pediatrician asked us to bring him before the office closed. After several tests at the doctors office, they sent Sam to the emergency room and told us to prepare for a cancer diagnosis.
Throughout the coming weeks, Sam’s life, and our family’s lives changed dramatically. Our active, silly little boy was subjected to pokes, blood draws, and surgeries. He was hooked up to an IV line and given all sorts of pills and infusions to destroy the cancer in his blood.
Sam continues to take oral chemo pills every day. He goes to monthly appointments at the oncology department at Children’s Hospital for chemo infusions through his port and spinal taps. He constantly impresses us with his ability to adapt and to do hard things with cheer. He’s now over a year into his treatment. He’s back to playing basketball, and any other sport he feels like! He’s got 1 year of treatment left.
We are so grateful to the support of Angels Among Us. Financial assistance from the organization allowed our family to regroup and focus on getting Sam his treatment, and to take the needed time off from work to support our 3 other children. The Angels Among Us community constantly reminds us that we’re not in this alone.
