553 Days and Counting

Some fun facts...

Six hundred sixty-six days left of treatment (08/05/2019)

Our Plan of Action: Use organic non-GMO whole food nutrition and other complementary methods to protect Dempsey from the side effects of the drugs. Since we can’t protect him from the drugs (we are legally mandated to poison our child), protecting his body from the side effects was the path we chose. It is working! The proof is below.


Dempsey weighed 40 pounds in May of 2016
     He now weighs 48.9 pounds (lean muscle)

Dempsey was 42 inches tall in May of 2016
     Now he is 45.5 inches tall!

Dempsey has had NO LESS than 31 different medications...
10 chemotherapy drugs, 4 sedatives, 2+ antibiotics, 2 steroids, 2 diuretics, 2 laxatives, 2 anesthesia, 2 antacid, 1 of the following: narcotic, glucose-elevating agent, electrolyte replenishment, antiemetic, anticoagulant, antihistamine (most of these were in the first month of treatment while we were living at CHOC)

He still has SIX medications that are "mandatory" and he will have these through end of treatment (E.O.T.).

• Mercaptopurine (daily), Methotrexate (weekly), Vincristine (monthly), Bactrim (minimal dose on weekends), Ranitidine (monthly with Prednisone), Prednisone (monthly).

Common side effects of leukemia treatment (has Dempsey had them- yes/no):

• Hair loss- yes (it took much longer than "average" for him to lose it and it has grown back super fast all luscious and curly!)
• Mouth sores- nope
• Loss of appetite- nope (in fact, he eats everything we put in front of him)
• Nausea and vomiting- nope
• Diarrhea- nope
• Increased risk of infections (due to low white blood cell counts)- no infections
• Easy bruising or bleeding (due to low blood platelet counts)- no extra bruising
• Fatigue (due to low red blood cell counts)- nope
• Numbness, tingling, or weakness in hands or feet (from nerve damage)- nope
• Constipation- nope
• Fever- nope
• Headaches- nope
• Decreased muscle mass- nope
• Trouble sleeping- nope

Lumbar Punctures- 12 (ish)

Bone marrow biopsies- 3

Pills- 100s

Infusions- dozens

Is currently playing soccer with Youth Kicks at WACC.

All his teeth are still tightly secure. Sawyer had lost teeth by this age.

These are the physcial stats. The character stats are immeasurable and just a valuable. Dempsey is a sweet younger brother, a Baby Blues enthusiast like Sawyer, loves deeply, enjoys learning, is generous and kind, is honest... and he is a gentleman in the best sense.

We are grateful for the successful journey Dempsey is having. We could not do this without God using YOU in our lives for such a time as this. Still, our hearts break whenever we hear word of a leukemia warrior who lost their battle despite what seemed like a successful journey for awhile. We don't know what is before us on our path... only that God is already there. We don't know that totality of how God is using Dempsey's story or how he will use it in the future. We are prayerful that it means we will keep him with us in this life and that we can always have him as a visible specimen of God's glory, hard work, and a family's fierce dedication to the cancer-stricken member.

This life is precious, friends. What are you doing in your home to cultivate security, love, trust, solid character, joy, morals, ethics, education, health, etc? Don't get lazy, friends! As long as you have breath the race is not finished.

Keep these stats in your mind: *provided by St. Baldricks

1. Childhood cancer is the number one disease killer of children in the U.S.
It’s the second leading cause of death (following accidents) in children ages 5-14.

2. Every two minutes a child is diagnosed with cancer.
That’s 300,000 kids around the world every year.

3. The average age of a child diagnosed with cancer is 6.
But you don’t have to be a child to be diagnosed with childhood cancer. Childhood cancer is diagnosed in all ages, from newborn infants to children and young adults.

4. 80% of children diagnosed with cancer are in developing countries.
Childhood cancer is a global problem.

5. The most common childhood cancer is acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
In the 1950s, almost every kid with ALL died. But today, thanks to childhood cancer research, about 90% of children with ALL will survive. That still leaves 10% to be taken from this world.

6. In 80% of kids with cancer, the cancer has already spread to other areas of the body by the time it is diagnosed.
That’s why so many children with cancer need to begin treatment right away. Many adult cancers can be diagnosed early.

7. Much of what we know about treating adult cancers has been learned from childhood cancer research.
Some aspects of cancer treatment today, such as combination chemotherapy, can be traced to pediatric cancer research.

8. There are over a dozen types of childhood cancer and hundreds of different subtypes.
The more rare types, when added together, account for about 30% of cancers in children and adolescents. But because so few children are diagnosed with each type, it’s very difficult to do research on these cancers.

9. One in five children diagnosed with cancer in the U.S. will not survive.
For the ones who do, the battle is never over.

10. Because of the treatments they had as kids, by the time they’re in their 30s or 40s, more than 95% of childhood cancer survivors will have a chronic health problem and 80% will have severe or life- threatening conditions.
Children should not only survive, but thrive.

In the 553 days that Dempsey has been in treatment, approximately 387,100 children (20yrs and under) have been diagnosed with cancer, and roughly 138,250 children around the globe have died from cancer.

FUNDING

LESS THAN 4% OF FEDERAL FUNDING GOES TO CHILDHOOD CANCER RESEARCH.

Click HERE to read my friend's breakdown of the funding for ALL CHILDHOOD CANCER research. The facts are heart-breaking!