The Story of Tucker's Road back to Health

Tucker was diagnosed with Pre-B Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in the early morning hours of August 11, 2009. His family is very hopeful for a full recovery and are so appreciative of the prayers and well-wishes from family, friends and community. Here is Tucker's story in the words of his parents, John and Patty.

Beginning in late June Tucker began to display very subtle symptoms of fatigue and appetite loss. He seemed to have an unusual number of bruises on his legs and often seemed pale. He also experienced some very sporadic low-grade fevers...all of which was SO slight that we hardly even noticed. We vacationed at the mountains and the coast and he ran, played, ate and did all the things he usually does...just a tiny bit less vigorously.

At a doctor's visit for an unrelated issue, we casually mentioned the bruises and paleness but upon examination he looked very good. We were offered, but declined a blood work up at that time. We opted to take a wait and see approach. That was 2 1/2 weeks before diagnosis.

On August 8th, Tucker cut his knee - compliments of his 7 year old brother Daniel who was pulling him around in a wagon. By Monday, August 10th, the knee was not healed and it had become swollen, red and hot to the touch. After dinner that evening, we took Tucker to the doctor to have the knee checked. We saw a physician's assistant who assessed the infection and suggested an antibiotic. I conveyed to her our underlying concerns and asked for a blood count.

The results were very troubling - very low platelets, low red cells and slightly elevated white cells. She paged the doctor on call and told us that we needed to get him to a specialized children's hospital in either Boston or Providence right way. We went to Hasbro where further tests in the ER confirmed our worst nightmare...Tucker had leukemia. But gratefully it is a very curable kind. His prognosis is an over 90% survival rate. But he will have a long road ahead.

He was hospitalized that night and for 6 long weeks he began the first of many phases of chemotherapy treatments. We were at his side at every moment and he enjoyed many visits from family and friends and was showered with cards and gifts. He is home with us AT LAST (culture shock as it was to him to no longer be king of Hasbro 5) and we are thoroughly enjoying being under the same roof again.

He will visit the Tomorrow Fund Clinic at Hasbro once or twice a week for the next 2 1/2 years for treatments. Due to his compromised immune system, he will be unable to attend school for most of his 4th grade year . He is being tutored at home and we have hired a babysitter to stay with him four days a week so that we can return to work.

His babysitter, incidentally, is a wonderful young woman named Tori Rando, herself a cancer survivor. Emotionally, she can help Tucker in ways we cannot. In just a few short days, he opened up to her about his fears; how the doctors access his port (central line for medications), the side-effects from certain chemo medications, etc. She can relate firsthand and that gives us tremendous peace of mind.

While health insurance covers the great majority of Tucker's care, we are just now beginning to assess the out-of-pocket expenses we face. These include numerous co-payments for clinic visits and medications, gas, loss of income due to time away from work, and most notably...for Tucker's babysitter.

Our goal for fundraising is not exorbitant, just enough to cover the added expenses so we can keep our heads above water. Certainly, we are exploring every avenue of support. Hasbro, the Tomorrow Fund Clinic and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society have been extraordinary in helping us find our way. We plan to be aligned with them for years to come in an effort to give back for all they have done for our son.

We'd like to express our heartfelt thanks to everyone who is praying for Tucker and our family. We can feel it and it keeps us going.

God Bless!

John, Patty, Tucker & Daniel Olen