Second day at Riley

Charlie Gibson, my 2 year old nephew, was rushed to Riley Children's Hospital in Indianapolis yesterday, 15 september. He has been sick with a runny nose and cough over the last week, nothing any parent hasn't seen a dozen times. A persistent fever began to cause concern after not responding over a few days of meds. He became ashen and looked noticeably more uncomfortable 2 days ago. Pediatricians in Lafayette, IN could not make a determination, so the referral to Riley was made. Within the hour it was confirmed that he had some type of acute leukemia. They began testing to type, including a bone marrow aspiration and blood sampling, in an effort to get chemo going as soon as possible.

Charlie ran a high fever through the night, getting limited rest and worrying his parents with high heart rates and periodic difficulty breathing. As I write this, he has just been taken down for a chest x-ray as they work to ascertain the extent of the respiratory infection. Today we anticipate the pathology report, involving a determination of the type of leukemia. Once this is known, the chemotherapy cocktail will be developed for him and treatment will begin.

This promises to be an arduous process and, with all your thoughts and prayers, we hope a successful one! This blog is an attempt at providing a one source avenue for information as well as a place for you to post comments and well wishes!