Chris A. - Quilt Finished in 2007

Born: October 19, 2000

Illness: Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL)

A Thank You From Chris' Family!

Written March 12, 2007

Dear Stitchers at Love Quilts,

What a wonderful gift you have given our family.  The quilt arrived this week and it is amazing.  It brings tears to the eyes of anyone who sees it.  As you remember, the theme is of heroes and incorporates many military squares.  Chris is our little soldier and loves it.  He first began playing with those little green soldiers right after he was diagnosed with leukemia.  We spent countless hours in his hospital bed setting up elaborate army bases and missions using hospital linens and vomit trays for ‘command centers’.  It took his mind off the scariness of what he was facing.  It was clear to us though as we watched him play, that the bravest soldier was right in front of us.  At 3 years old, Chris was already fighting an incredible war and we were determined that he would win.  We believe he has.

Chris and our family could not have made it this far without the help of so many thoughtful friends, family and even strangers such as yourselves.  The good wishes and thoughts were felt across the miles and carried us through the difficult days, hours and minutes.  Every time Chris wraps up in the beautiful quilt you sent us we will remember you and the love you sewed into the quilt.  Yes, Chris will use it and the older and more worn it gets the more time will have passed between Chris and the battle he fought so bravely. 

Thank you for your incredible generosity and all the time and effort it took to make this quilt.  Chris will hold onto it forever and it will always remind us of all the other soldiers out there who continue fighting the war and people like yourselves who support them.

Love,

Chris' Family (Shawn, Wanda, Brenna and Chris)

Chris' Story

written by mom Wanda in 2006

Christopher was born on October 19, 2000.  Even that very first day people referred to him as a 'little man.'  As he grew older, Chris had a deep little voice and seemed so much smarter than his years.   He also was always full of energy which was hard to keep up with, we referred to his passion for life as 'spirited.'  Then one day our high-energy boy began to slow down.

We will always remember this day . . . the day of Chris’s diagnosis.

In summer ‘04, the kids had finally gotten old enough where we could do some fun family adventures.  We had a great summer.  We went camping, fishing, hiking for letterboxes, and canoeing.  Frequently, on many of our outings, Chris would complain that he was tired and wanted to be carried.

I remember a trip to the zoo in June.  Chris was tired one minute and then race around the next.  I pointed this out to Shawn.  What were we going to do with Chris.

It was frustrating.  We felt he was getting a little spoiled and resisted carrying him. In July, however, we were hiking on some sand dunes for 3 hours.  Chris slept in our arms the whole time.  We thought he had a cold and gave him cold medicine.  In August, we went on a camping trip with 6 other families from our small town.  We had a great time and nothing seemed wrong.  A few days later though, on another hiking trip, Chris lagged behind (explainable as he was almost the youngest) but he wanted his blankie which was a little unusual.

I remember being so frustrated with all the whining and was tired of him wanting to be carried all the time.  He’d need to toughen up.

A couple days later, we joined my friend Stacy at her swimming pool.  I needed to wake Chris up to go but he was perfectly fine when we got there and had a fun time with the other kids.  The next day, I realized that Chris had a fever.  He took a nap on his own which was highly unusual for our ‘spirited’ little guy.

I remember calling Stacy to apologize as Chris was surely sick and I hoped he didn’t infect any of her kids.  We felt it must be pneumonia.

Rather than join some friends at a playground, I used the doctor as an excuse and took Chris to our brand new pediatrician (Dr. Price) who had never met us.  Right away, she felt Chris looked pale and appeared to be breathing rapidly.  I hadn’t noticed as he was quite tan from all our time outdoors.  She wanted to rule out pneumonia so she sent us to Milford Hospital for x-rays and blood tests.  I dropped Brenna off with my friend Jennifer at the playground.

I remember joking about feeling like a bad mother if he had pneumonia, but not being serious because it was surely not a big deal.  Chris would be fine.

Two hours later Dr. Price called telling me that Chris’s blood counts were very low and he was extremely anemic.  She must have known already what we would not find out for seven more hours.  She told us to pack an overnight bag and head to Children’s Hospital ER in Boston.  I called Shawn at work crying and told him the blood counts, not really knowing what it all meant.  He came home from work right away.  We dropped Brenna off at our friend Kathy’s house and we headed in to Boston not having any idea what was in store for us.

I remember while we were driving, I intentionally put on my bracelet with Chris and Brenna’s name engraved on it.  I needed to have it on.

Shawn, myself and Chris stayed in a small ER room for 6 hours on a Friday night seeing many doctors.  They came in and out of the room continually and at the end they were all waiting for the oncology doctor to see us.

I remember racking my brain trying to figure out what was wrong with Chris.  Shawn and Chris spent the hours throwing a superball against the wall.  The ball had a butterfly in it.

There was nothing the other doctors could say to us until we knew.  The oncology doctor had been paged many times and it was taking a very long time to see him.

I remember the looks on the doctor’s faces when they realized that we had not been told yet.  Other than asking if we had heard yet from the oncologist, they left us alone.

Meanwhile, my mind was jumping from one thing to another explaining away any real problem.  Brenna had had a milk allergy as a baby and had something unusual in her labwork which led our original pediatrician to believe that she had some type of bone cancer (she did not).

I remember thinking it was as simple as this.  We had made this trip to Children’s Hospital with Brenna many years before.  It was nothing.  Why weren’t they taking me seriously.

I held on to that – it was a mistake – just a little milk allergy.

I remember trying to explain this to the doctors.  They dismissed it, but I didn’t want to embarrass them when they realized I was right about the milk allergy so I didn’t press it too much.

The oncologist, whom we later called Dr. Jason, finally arrived.  He told us that Chris had leukemia around 9pm.

I remember . . . nothing.

We were stunned.  Chris was admitted that night and would stay at Children’s for the next 17 days.

I remember being in shock the first night.  I felt alone the second night.  I cried the next night when we were assigned a roommate – another 3 year old boy and his mother who was also nursing a baby.  I didn’t know how she was going to be able to do it.

I stayed with Chris during the week with Shawn relieving me every Wednesday and Weekend.

I remember our whole family went to the hospital playroom our first morning there.  I couldn’t talk as my throat was so constricted and my eyes ready to spill over.  The other children were so obviously sick with their bald heads and they were connected to IV’s.  Chris looked so healthy.

I went to Toys R Us my first free night to find posters, etc to decorate Chris’s hospital room.  This felt like a turning point.  I would tackle this.  We were told Chris would have to stay in the hospital for at least a month.  He was released after 2 ½ weeks as he was doing so well.  We were beginning the next stage of our journey.

But I will always remember the first day of our journey.  It was Friday August 20, 2004.  Chris was diagnosed with Pre-B Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

At this point, Chris has been through 20 months of chemotherapy.   His hair has grown back and a stranger would never know what he continues to go through with the meds and procedures.   Fortunately, his energy is returning and he has never once questioned why this has happened to him.   He is still our brave 'little man.'