Nicholas |
"Angel" Melissa | Eric
Nicholas' Story
written by mom Kimberly
Nicholas was born a bouncing baby boy on
September 7th, 2000. An adorable baby with an infectious smile, his hair
ranged from strawberry blonde to almost white depending on the light.
Nicholas and his older brother, Zachary, had an instant bond that still
shows through today.
Starting around one year of age, Nicholas began to develop ear infections.
Nothing serious, and not quite enough of them to warrant tubes, but that was
really his only health problem until right around his third birthday. It was
during this time that we made many trips to the emergency room (...one time
for an allergic reaction of some sort...one time for a pesky upper
respiratory infection).
In a trip to the ER in late August 2003, Nicholas had a complete workup. The
only thing that came back not normal was his hemoglobin which showed he was
borderline anemic. At the end of October, I took Nicholas to his 3 year well
check visit. We were in the sick waiting room for his well visit. He had
bruises all over his legs, some on his arms, and one on his spine. He was
running fevers off and on. He would vomit, and then be fine.
I told the doctor of all the ER visits, told of how they said Nicholas was
borderline anemic, and showed all the bruises. The doctor ordered a
hemoglobin check...not a CBC...just hemoglobin. The test came back lower
than what it was in August, but still borderline. I asked why is it that
Nicholas seems to be sick all the time, and Zachary is at the same school as
him, and never seems to be sick. The answer to that was that Zachary had
gained more immunity from being in school longer. They gave us a paper on
how to help raise iron, and sent us on our way.
Two weeks later, Nicholas' paternal grandmother was looking in her old
medical book under bruising, and there it was: LEUKEMIA. And all the
symptoms...symptoms that Nicholas had had at his well check. That night, I
searched and searched on the Internet, and I knew.
The next morning, Monday, November 10th, I put Nicholas in the car, and
while he cried that he wanted to go to the babysitter's, I cried because I
knew that our lives were never going to be the same. We arrived at the
doctor's office right after they had opened. I didn't call, and I didn't
care...someone was going to see us. Dr. C saw us this time (different doctor
than the one at his well check), she asked a few questions, examined
Nicholas briefly, and rolled her chair over to me.
In the faintest of voices, she spoke. No matter how soft, CANCER screamed in
my mind. She was in tears; I told her I already knew. We headed straight to
Mercy Children's Hospital, and on the way Nicholas cried that he wanted to
go to school. I didn't know how to tell him the reason he would not be able
to go back.
Since those horrible days in November, life has become a little easier, but
the road has not been without it's bumps. Nicholas had to endure 10 days of
cranial radiation, because he is considered high risk (WBC@dx 86,000 and a
slow early responder), and his course of treatment for chemo is three years
and three months. He has had over 20 various blood product transfusions
(blood, platelets, and plasma), and endured several delays and
hospitalizations. On July 27th, 2004 Nicholas was diagnosed with Epilepsy
after having a seizure at home and another at the hospital. He was on
anti-seizure medication for a year, and then slowly taken off the
medication. As of today, he has not had any more seizures!
Nicholas truly is a gift. He is such a tough little boy, yet docile at the
same time. He is polite and courteous, yet can rumble with his brother at a
moments notice. He is our little angel, and we are truly blessed that he is
in our lives.
Today, Nicholas is close to heading OFF TREATMENT! He is now in
kindergarten, and enjoys school very much! At his age, we are seeing just
how much damage chemotherapy and radiation has done to his developing brain.
This has been bittersweet as I am so very thankful he is in remission and
doing relatively well health wise, but sad to see the effect the treatment
has left on him. Even with all his struggles he is still such a sweet, sweet
boy!
Abilities:
See: Yes.
Hear: Yes.
Talk: Yes.
Walk: Yes.
Read: Not yet.
Use hands: Yes.
Siblings:
brother Zachary, age 9
Child's Interests:
Nicholas loves all sports...hockey, baseball, football, bowling, etc. He
also loves to play sports on Playstation! He likes to cheer on Ohio State,
BGSU Falcons, all Cleveland Teams (even the Browns!), likes the Bengals,
Columbus Blue Jackets, and many more teams (Yes, he is a sports nut!)
Nicholas still loves Dora and Diego, Clifford and Curious George (which is a
new interest for him!).
Sibling's Interests:
Zachary is a sports nut just like Nicholas. He plays hockey, football, and
baseball, and loves to watch all the sports as well! Zachary likes to cheer
on the same teams as Nicholas with one exception...Zachary cheers for
Michigan (I think just to spite us!) instead of Ohio State! Zachary is also
an avid reader and has read all the Harry Potter books!
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