builtnotbought
New Member
- Location
- Midvale, UT
Hey guys,
A close friend of the wife & I has a nephew that's 3 years old who just got diagnosed with leukemia. They are holding a custom car show to help bring in donations to help his family threw these extremely hard times!
These came along with an email I requested from Matthews mother to give us Just a small glimps of the over whelming times these have been for him & his family!
Wendy Burr:
Hey,
(I didnt copy the beging of her email as it pertained directly to me.)
On June 12th, 2011, Matthew got a bump on his left cheek, near his ear, and had some swollen lymph nodes all down the left side of his neck. The bump on the cheek was diagnosed as an infected salivary gland. He was given a ten day dose of antibiotics, during which he had a fever every day, but at the end of the ten days, the bumps had still not gone away. The doctor at the Urgent Care gave him a big shot of antibiotics in his leg, and said if it wasn't drastically better in two days, to call our Primary Care doctor for a referral to an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor. It was quite better in two days, but not gone, and the fevers were still there, so we continued on his antibiotics, but at the end of the second ten day dose, the bumps and fevers were still there. Our doctor referred us to an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor, who said he wanted a Pediatric Ear Nose and Throat doctor at Primary Children's to see it. He made an appointment for us, but it was 18 days away. He said the next time Matthew's fever went above 102, we should take him to the Primary Children's ER. Although his fevers wouldn't go away, they never went above 102 until another ten days later. We knew he was very sick, but didn't want to take him to the ER, just to get turned away. As soon as his fever spiked above 102, we went to the Primary Children's ER, where they finally did a blood test. That was in the middle of the night in the very early hours of July 12th. They suspected Leukemia because of the blood counts. It took another two days to get the diagnosis, but in the end they said it is Precursor B, Standard Resistance Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. They did surgery the next day to instal a catheter under the skin in his chest for easier IV access, which sends the medicines straight to his heart, causing it to spread through the body faster and more effectively. They also did the first Chemotherapy treatment the next day.
Since diagnosis, Matthew has had IV Chemo, Intrathecal Chemo (injected into the spinal fluid), and Chemo in pill form, as well as massive doses of steroids and antibiotics. He has taken medicine of some sort almost every day, and been to the oncology clinic at Primary's weekly, which he spends 4-8 hours doing. He's gone under general anesthesia 9 times. He recognizes the medicine that puts him to sleep as, "The white medicine." He's been hospitalized a total of 3 times: Once at diagnosis for 6 days, once a month later for pneumonia for 4 days, and once a week ago for a kidney stone (which may or may not be related to his treatment) for 3 days. Through it all, he has remained a loving, smart, and funny little boy whose charisma wins the hearts of everyone he meets. He humbles and amazes me.
Thank you for taking an interest in our family. The generosity of strangers has been so uplifting to me that I cannot explain the changes it has brought in my heart. Thank you.
Wendy Burr
So I figured, who better to bring this to than the off-road community to roll out in astonishing numbers, & have fun doing it! I hope to see as many rigs there as we can normally CRAM into one trail run...
Where: PCA Parking Lot, SLC, UT 4654 West 1525 South
when: Saturday September 24, 2011 11:00 am – 3:00 pm
Thanks,
Ryan
A close friend of the wife & I has a nephew that's 3 years old who just got diagnosed with leukemia. They are holding a custom car show to help bring in donations to help his family threw these extremely hard times!
These came along with an email I requested from Matthews mother to give us Just a small glimps of the over whelming times these have been for him & his family!
Wendy Burr:
Hey,
(I didnt copy the beging of her email as it pertained directly to me.)
On June 12th, 2011, Matthew got a bump on his left cheek, near his ear, and had some swollen lymph nodes all down the left side of his neck. The bump on the cheek was diagnosed as an infected salivary gland. He was given a ten day dose of antibiotics, during which he had a fever every day, but at the end of the ten days, the bumps had still not gone away. The doctor at the Urgent Care gave him a big shot of antibiotics in his leg, and said if it wasn't drastically better in two days, to call our Primary Care doctor for a referral to an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor. It was quite better in two days, but not gone, and the fevers were still there, so we continued on his antibiotics, but at the end of the second ten day dose, the bumps and fevers were still there. Our doctor referred us to an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor, who said he wanted a Pediatric Ear Nose and Throat doctor at Primary Children's to see it. He made an appointment for us, but it was 18 days away. He said the next time Matthew's fever went above 102, we should take him to the Primary Children's ER. Although his fevers wouldn't go away, they never went above 102 until another ten days later. We knew he was very sick, but didn't want to take him to the ER, just to get turned away. As soon as his fever spiked above 102, we went to the Primary Children's ER, where they finally did a blood test. That was in the middle of the night in the very early hours of July 12th. They suspected Leukemia because of the blood counts. It took another two days to get the diagnosis, but in the end they said it is Precursor B, Standard Resistance Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. They did surgery the next day to instal a catheter under the skin in his chest for easier IV access, which sends the medicines straight to his heart, causing it to spread through the body faster and more effectively. They also did the first Chemotherapy treatment the next day.
Since diagnosis, Matthew has had IV Chemo, Intrathecal Chemo (injected into the spinal fluid), and Chemo in pill form, as well as massive doses of steroids and antibiotics. He has taken medicine of some sort almost every day, and been to the oncology clinic at Primary's weekly, which he spends 4-8 hours doing. He's gone under general anesthesia 9 times. He recognizes the medicine that puts him to sleep as, "The white medicine." He's been hospitalized a total of 3 times: Once at diagnosis for 6 days, once a month later for pneumonia for 4 days, and once a week ago for a kidney stone (which may or may not be related to his treatment) for 3 days. Through it all, he has remained a loving, smart, and funny little boy whose charisma wins the hearts of everyone he meets. He humbles and amazes me.
Thank you for taking an interest in our family. The generosity of strangers has been so uplifting to me that I cannot explain the changes it has brought in my heart. Thank you.
Wendy Burr
So I figured, who better to bring this to than the off-road community to roll out in astonishing numbers, & have fun doing it! I hope to see as many rigs there as we can normally CRAM into one trail run...
Where: PCA Parking Lot, SLC, UT 4654 West 1525 South
when: Saturday September 24, 2011 11:00 am – 3:00 pm
Thanks,
Ryan
