Lennon's journey started in early June of 2021 when he was almost 2 years old, with a little toy wagon. Like any other day, Lennon and his sister, Penelope, were playing with the little toy wagon, and he fell back off onto his butt. After a few days of hip soreness, he was running again. But then running turned to walking, and over the next few weeks, walking turned to “uppie.” Lennon could no longer walk on his own.

The doctor examined him and thought it was growing pains, but to rule out a fracture, they ordered an X-ray. Each person who reviewed his X-ray gave us a different answer. We scheduled an orthopedic appointment, which straddled our 4th of July weekend. So, we went off to celebrate at our cabin on the Mississippi River (woo hoo)! 

We exploded in concern with physical oddities that quickly arose in Lennon;  

SUPER TINY LITTLE RED/PURPLE DOTS showed up on his skin called PINPOINT PETECHIAE (pronounced peh-teak-ee-ah). 

BRUISES were everywhere. 

SKIN LOOKED TRANSLUCENT and milky.

And He COULDN'T EVEN STAND at this point without crying. 

After the weekend, we took him to daycare, and his provider called us voicing extreme concern that “this isn’t the Lennon I know. And his skin color looks pasty against all the other children.” We brought him back home and desperately awaited Tuesday’s orthopedic appointment. This was the day they were supposed to validate our concerns that our son has a hip fracture or is possibly anemic (Which turned out to be the least of our worries). 

His x-ray came back clear. They looked at him and also suggested a blood draw to rule out infection. Children's called with his blood numbers, having already relayed this to his pediatrician, and all parties recommended we take him to the ER. IMMEDIATELY. 

Here is what they found:

WHITE BLOOD COUNT was 66 (normal range is 6-14)

INFLAMMATION was 100 (norm. 0-10)

HEMOGLOBIN was 4 (norm. 10-14)

PLATLETES were 12 (norm. 150-450)

We had NO IDEA what those numbers meant until the woman told me that his immune system was “basically zero.” We relayed these numbers to Lennon’s Mimi, who is a family practitioner, and she said, “I want you to hear this from me, and no one else. I believe that he has cancer, like 99% sure, and more specifically Leukemia.” 

At the ER, we went from a small triage room in the back to the big room across from the nurse’s station and we had so many people in and out. Lennon hadn’t eaten or napped and all the nurses and doctors were doing was poking and prodding for blood samples, IV, and tests. Poor Lennon just kept repeating, “MOMMY! DADDY! ALL DONE! ALL DONE!”

…and we could do nothing…

The busyness went silent as soon as two doctors in white ER suits came in. Everyone quickly, and silently crept out and closed the curtains. They took a look at him, pulled up a chair, sat lower than us and diagnosed him with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (A.L.L.)….what?! 

Our entire family and external support systems, such as friends and co-workers, galvanized during the next 2 ½ years with love and support for our little man. You can read his whole story, with a lot more love, pain, and translucency, by please following our link to the Caring Bridge.

Lennon has been a survivor for six months! So, we owe everything to Children’s Wisconsin and those who helped. It took a massive effort from our village of loved ones to save one child’s life. This is why we have decided to give back to ScareA.L.L.