William (Will) James Hopkins was born May 1, 2002 in Naperville, Illinois at Edward Hospital. Will likes sharks, crocs, gators, whales & snakes. He dislikes taking yucky medicine, peas & bedtime.
One thing that I think is unique about Will is his love for the movie Jaws and the actor Roy Scheider who played Chief Brody. Will loves Jaws & Jaws 2, 3 & 4. He draws pictures of Jaws movie scenes, the characters and lots of the Orca boat (last scene of the movie). He also draws pictures of other sharks, crocs, whales, dinosaurs and animals. He has gotten really good too. Pretty amazing 6 yr old.
When It All Started
Will had been getting nose bleeds pretty regularly and then began looking more and more pale until one day he had a nosebleed that lasted over 3 hours. Then he was very pale and there was no color in his lips and finger nails. I took him to his pediatrician and they did a blood test.
We went home and a few hours later got a call to get Will to the hospital where they did a spinal and bone marrow test and told us he has Pre B ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia). You could have knocked me over with a feather, I felt sick, angry and was in complete shock and disbelief. I sat there listening to the doctor but it was like he was far away and my mind was racing and the more I tried to listen the less I heard. Luckily they gave me lots to read. Will is currently being treated at the Keyser Cancer Center at Hope Children’s Hospital in Oak Lawn, IL.
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Hi there. I just wanted to give an update for Will.
Will has had a pretty amazing fun filled summer. First the Disney World trip and then he went to Camp Quality. The camp is for kids with cancer. There were 70 kids and each had a companion for the week. Will’s companion was so awesome and Will had so much fun. He got to ride on a motorcycle, a hummer, a corvette and a helicopter. They also swam, played games, did arts & crafts, shot paint ball guns, had a dance and went to the fire station. This past week Will started 1st grade. He has a nice teacher and likes going to school and seeing his friends.
The past few weeks Will’s platelet, hemoglobin & ANC has been falling but has been borderline on any transfusions. Right now he has a 2 week break from chemo before he starts his second round of Augmented Delayed Intensification. This past week Will has had 3 nose bleeds and has a few scattered bruises. We go for blood work tomorrow so we’ll see what his numbers are and whether he needs any transfusions or not.
