Matt's Story
Matt was a very active boy, who loved sports and especially bowling. He even bowled a 240 in the Spring of 2003! We thought for sure he would be a pro someday. Matt went through many months of headaches in the Spring of 2003. He went to a migraine clinic where they told me he was making this up and didn’t want to go to school. I know that wasn’t my Matt. He was always tired and pale. Finally in June 2003, I rushed him to the hospital because he was having a violent headache and looked so very pale. At that point they couldn’t pinpoint what he had, but they knew he needed several units of blood due to his hemoglobin being 3.8 and referred me to Chapel Hill.
June 17, 2003 after a bone marrow test, Dr. Julie Blatt discovered he had ALL. He went through so much that summer…a blood clot in his shoulder went to his lung, they tried to burst the clot and he bled through many of his organs. He went golfing with his Dad and went down an embankment in the golf cart falling out of it and getting cellulitis. (Hence the name “Dumb and Dumber“ that one of the nurses named them both.) He has also endured pancreatitis about 10 times during the course of his treatment and hepatitis as well. He also had shingles, neuropathy, fevers, mucisitis, and psychosis (steroid related) to name a few. He also had a hip coring and grafting at Philadelphia Children’s Hospital to try and help his hip that was destroyed from all of the steroids he had to take as part of his protocol. Matt was wheelchair bound for more than a year. He had much physical therapy and we are doing even more this summer to try and improve his walking and strength. He still can’t walk long distances, but we manage with the help of scooters in the stores. Through all this, we have met many wonderful doctors, nurses, and families. The first family to reach out to us was the Lee Family. We had no family or support when we lived in North Carolina. They were always so kind to Matt; Grandpa bringing him a Krispy Kreme donut or just stopping by with a smile and a kind word. It meant more than they will ever know to Matt and us. Lori probably won’t remember this but she even offered me to use her make-up and I thought to myself, WOW! With all she was going through with Folden, she wanted me to use her make-up. It may sound silly now, but at the time I was overwhelmed by her kindness.
Through all this, Matt has maintained a positive attitude and always has been willing to help other kids with similar issues. We have since moved to New Jersey where Matt has donated time to Alex’s Lemonade Stand, a foundation for pediatric cancer research. He feels no one should have cancer, especially kids. We are now coming to the end of chemotherapy treatment. His doctor has told me she has never seen anyone have every single complication and she is amazed how well he is doing. The future is an uncertain thing but it is for all of us. We can’t go by statistics, wither its cured 100% or it isn’t. So as a family, we have been trying to gain some normalcy in our life, enjoying everyday and trying to help others as best we can.
