When It All Started
Caleb is a spunky outgoing little boy who was dealt a bad hand in life since birth. When Caleb was born he was born with a clubfoot on his right foot. In the first year of my son's life he spent so much time in and out of the hospital for castings, braces, and surgery. Caleb knew from birth that he was special. When the nurses brought him out to see the family, and they were all there, Caleb smiled and melted every member of the family's hearts. To this day all Caleb has to do is bat his big brown eyes and mushhhhhhhhhh!!!!! After the stuff with his foot mellowed out and Caleb was a little over 3 we realized something else about Caleb. He wasn't really talking. I mean he says a few words but my husband and me just didn't want to face it. So we decided to take him to a local school that deals with speech and learning delays and had him tested and we found out that Caleb was learning delayed by 2 yrs and speech delayed my 2 1/2 years. So we enrolled him into the school. In 6 months time Caleb excelled with his learning abilities jumped and his speech is clearing up. Then on April 12, 2004 Caleb was hit again this time A.L.L. LEUKIMIA!!!!! Of all the things in this world my son was cursed yet again. When I found out when the doctors told me, I just couldn't believe it, there was no way. But you look at him and he was just laying there in the bed all the docs and nurses buzzing around him and all I can do is stare at my son. Looking so small lying there in that bed! And as of April 13th our newest battle began. Caleb looked and acted like any normal child he played and he went to preschool. Then the week leading up to him getting really sick he started to get really pale and started bruising big time. Our whole family was devastated due to our whole family revolves around Caleb. He is the first great grand baby (biological for both side of the family as well as first grand baby. He is an outstanding child and everyone loves him and each one of us is handling it in our own way but no one has stopped loving him if anything we all just love him more and more Every one of us has learned as much as possible about leukemia we all pitch in to find as much information as possible but cancer runs heavily in our family and my son is the youngest to be touched by the disease and some of us handle it ok and others don't handle it well at all. Me? Well I cried and wondered how cans this happen to my son. He's already gone thru so much in his 5 yrs of life he was born with a physical handicap then he had a learning and speech problem and now this. It's so hard to think that it can happen and why. To save his life, Caleb spent almost 40 days at Loma Linda Children's Hospital. And everyday I was right there. I spent nearly every night there so Caleb wouldn't feel he was alone. In total I came home maybe 6 days a few hours here and there and a couple over night trips, where I made the mistake in teaching Caleb how to call home, try 14 times in one day) And the over night trips home was only so I can get the house cleaned up so he could come home. And on May 18th we brought him home finally. In 5 1/2 months of being in the hospital Caleb has grown up. You see it in his eyes and the way that he carries himself. He's our little man.