Palm Beach Area

 
BRIAN

Birthday: February 25, 2000
Diagnosis Date: September 8, 2004
Diagnosis: acute lymphocytic leukemia
Hometown: West Palm Beach

About Brian: At only 4 years old, Brian was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL) in September of 2004.  Brian?s immediate treatment included daily Chemo pills, weekly blood draws and weekly shots in the leg. 
In October of 2007, Brian completed his Chemotherapy treatments, and his port was removed shortly after. 
We're happy to report his follow-ups have been good. 
Brian is a very strong, healthy, active little boy who likes baseball, basketball and soccer. He has also become ?Shredder Man? because he loves the skate park.
Brian lives in West Palm Beach with his parents, Patrick and Nancy and his brother Brendan.

MAX 

 Birthday: November 2002
Diagnosis: ALL
Diagnosis Date: Decmber 2007
Status: Seeking Bone Marrow Donor

About Max: Shortly after his 5th birthday, Max?s parents noticed that he had enlarged lymph nodes on one side of his neck.  They took him to the pediatrician, but since there were no other symptoms, they didn?t find anything wrong.  When the lymph nodes became larger, they went to see the specialists.  Multiple tests were done, but still no indication that anything was wrong.  

In late November, it was determined a biopsy should be done.  The day of the surgery, the Dr. decided not to do the biopsy, since the nodes had decreased in size.  So, back home they went & back to the pediatrician.  More blood work revealed that Max had a white blood cell count of 88k - many times higher than normal.  He was admitted that afternoon & was diagnosed with T-cell Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia.

The next day, he was airlifted to Miami Children?s Hosp, where he spent about 6 weeks in & out of ICU while undergoing chemotherapy treatments.  He returned home to celebrate Christmas on Jan. 11th, 2008.  In addition to the chemo, Max has also received radiation treatments and is now entering the maintenance phase of his treatment protocol.

Whenever he can, Max loves being outside, playing in the pool and of course, playing with his brother Cameron and his dog, Riley.

UPDATE - On 1/28/09 Max went in to have his regular blood work to see how is blood counts were doing & it was discovered that he has relapsed, meaning that the leukemia has returned.  Since then, Max has been undergoing more extensive chemotherapy treatments and his doctors are looking for a bone marrow donor, so a transplant can be done.  The transplant is the best option to help save Max?s life. 

Visit Max's caringbridge site for the latest updates: http://caringbridge.org/visit/maxclark