It's hard to believe it all started with a fever I couldn't kick. For two weeks it was the same story: Get a fever...go to the doctor...be told it's a virus (or ear infection)...get some medicine...be OK...get off the medicine...get a fever...rinse and repeat. 

And then on January 30, 2017, a day that started out with another trip to the doctor and almost going back to daycare, ended with a five hour stay in the emergency room at St. Louis Children's Hospital as I waited to be admitted to a room on the oncology floor after I had been diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). 

I was only 20 months old, and my mom and dad just days before the diagnosis found out that I was going to be a big brother. It's funny how things work out in life.

Now the thing about ALL is that while it's the most common and curable form of pediatric cancer, the treatment schedule is grueling...3.5 years of chemo! Yikes! 

But I'm a fighter. My parents are fighters. My grandparents,  friends, neighbors, and teachers all fought beside me, and after 1,220 days, 50 nights in the hospital, hundreds of trips to the hospital, a few thousand doses of medication, and countless blood draws and needle pokes, on June 2, 2020, I took my last dose. 

So here I am, nearly a year removed from treatment. Even in a pandemic, life has been so much brighter for me. I know the future is uncertain and there are no guarantees but I feel like I have a chance. 

And that's why my Dad and I have been involved in St. Baldrick's ever since I lost my hair in September 2017. Through our fundraising efforts, we've raised more than $125,000 to fund childhood cancer research because we want every child to have that same chance!