The week of February 25, 2019 changed not only our lives as parents but our 13 year old son Jack’s life as well. It all started on Monday February 25, 2019, Jack walked through the door after attending after school weightlifting class for football and we noticed his cheeks were very rosey. We took his temperature and he had a high fever so we immediately took him to an urgent care since it was already after hours to take him to the pediatrician. At the urgent care they rapid swabbed him for the flu and for strep throat which both came back negative. I had just gotten over the flu and they believed this was possibly the start of the flu and they started him on Tam-a-flu. Tuesday he was having fevers on and off throughout the day but by evening his temperature spiked again and we were instructed to take Jack to the hospital. He was swabbed for the flu and sent to the lab which would take about 24 hours. We let the ER know that Jack seemed a little more tired recently but we chalked it up to indoor football, school and his weightlifting class. They said it could be a possibility he might be coming down with mono as well. We were discharged from the ER to continue the Tam-a-flu and to monitor his fevers, return to ER if needed and wait for the result of the flu swab. On Wednesday evening we received the call from the ER stating Jack’s flu swab was negative and to follow up with his Pediatrician in the morning. The next day, Thursday February 28, 2019 we did a follow up visit with his pediatrician, because we knew there must have been something more than just a normal winter sickness. The pediatrician confirmed that Jack was positive for strep throat (which was negative 3 days prior) but during the visit I found little red dots on Jack's neck and brought it to the attention of the doctor where she decided to run a stat CBC. I took Jack for his blood test and before we were called back to draw Jack’s labs Jack went to the bathroom where he started vomiting. After his blood work we went home and waited to hear from the pediatrician. Within 3 hours, we received the call from Jack’s pediatrician and were instructed to take Jack to the ER for a direct admission to the hospital. I asked what was wrong and I pleaded with the pediatrician to tell me. She had stated that the results showed that Jack needed a blood transfusion and a platelet transfusion due to low hemoglobin and platelets. The pediatrician stated that we needed to get Jack to the hospital immediately. We were greeted by a Pediatric Hematologist Oncologist who informed us that Jack had a form of Leukemia. Jack along with the rest of the family was hit very hard with the news because his pop-pop, died 6 months earlier with leukemia 21 days after diagnosis. Jack’s exact words to the Oncologist as he lay on a gurney in the ER, crying, “am I going to die like my pop-pop?”The next day Jack started chemotherapy with a lumbar puncture and a bone marrow biopsy. Thank you for supporting me and the more than 300,000 kids worldwide who will be diagnosed with cancer this year. By sharing the gifts of your time, talent and money with the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, you're supporting research to give all kids with cancer a better chance for a cure.