On June 17th Aiden began to have severe pain in his left leg. After a thorough exam with his pediatrician he was admitted to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital for several additional tests to determine the cause of the pain. After exhaustive testing, the answer was still unclear. A simple dose of Motrin relieved the pain so we were discharged and returned to normal for a week and a half.

At the end of that week and a half, the pain returned. So back to the pediatrician and again back to Vanderbilt for more testing. At this point everyone reviewing the test and lab results were certain that we were dealing with a chronic infection. The thought was it would definitely be cured with strong antibiotics. Everyone was on board and then…

Enter the oncologists. The news oncology brought to the mix changed EVERYTHING. As they explained the cause of Aiden’s pain, the news we never expected to hear but deeply feared the most became our reality. Within two hours Aiden was in surgery to take bone marrow (to narrow down the exact genetic traits of his specific leukemia), for a spinal tap to check for cancer in his spine, and for the insertion of his port in his chest along with a rushed first round of chemotherapy.

We expect to have the results of the tests on his bone marrow by the end of this week. The good news is that it is not in his spine. They will continue to push the chemotherapy every eight days as a preventative measure. Leukemia likes to hide in the spine which can complicate treatment. As bad as the spinal tap treatment sounds, it is necessary and will be part of his on-going treatment as a precaution.

We are now in the “induction” stage (the first of many stages). Induction involves daily treatments in the hospital over a 29 day period. We are not leaving his side. So many difficult things to try to understand as everything in his world has changed. This is a very critical stage and we learn new things frequently as we talk to more of the team and as more test results come in.

I find it difficult to explain the emotions we are going through in this nightmare. We are focusing every ounce of energy on making Aiden better and comforting him through this confusing time. We are trying to accentuate and embellish the good moments and staying strong for him during the bad ones. This will be a long journey but we are trying to take it one minute at a time. Right now the changes are so drastic and have blindsided us frequently.

We will work to keep you updated on our journey and on Aiden’s needs. We will use this site as a tool to keep everyone informed and connected. The site is open so please feel free to share this with anyone who wishes to follow this journey. As painful as this is, we know that we are not the only ones that have been (or will be) affected. Aiden is a special boy who has touched the hearts of so many and now has an opportunity to touch many more.