Meet Chase

Every so often, life throws a curve ball your way, and this has happened to a great friend who doesn’t live more than a block away from me.  I would like you all to meet little 2-year-old Chase. Chase’s Mom and Dad, Dani and Ashton are great friends who we love dearly.

Talk about life being turned upside-down in a three day span. I was able to go visit this cute family while they were in the hospital at Primary Children’s, and all I could do was cry. A few of our mutual friends have set up a website on behalf of Chase, and I am honored to be able to help spread the word about this wonderful cause. Click the image below to check out the site. The site also provides a fund to help with Chase’s medical costs and treatment. No donation is too small.

Dani (Chase’s Mom) puts it best in her own words in an excerpt from her personal blog on July 22, 2010.

Our perfectly healthy little boy has a weekness to all of his super powers. He thinks he is a super hero, but I guess all super heros have an achilles tendon. We have found Chase’s. Starting about Sunday afternoon he just didn’t seem like our normal little ball of fire. He was asking for naps (he is always super good and takes naps well, but what little two year asks for his nap?) Just a little off for him. He also was complaining of something hurting on his left side. This would happen when he was climbing up onto a chair or a bed etc….

He was off just enough that I took him with me to my OB exam on Wed. morning.
We see a family doc so he looked at Chase while we were there. We LOVE Dr. Thompson and are so thankful for the chance we have to be his patients. He knew there was something wrong when he felt his spleen and it was enlarged. He told us to go get some lab work and it would take a couple of hours to get results, but he thought it was something called ITP. Nothing too serious and it has no treatment to it. I had my car all packed up and we were leaving from the Dr. to go straight to my parents in Logan area to then continue on to Bear Lake. We were packed up to stay for two weeks so my mom could help me with the kids (that is because I am an enormous whale at this point and Chase can run faster than I can….side note: I have about 8 weeks left before the new little one comes). So Dr. T said just get on the road and if it comes back abnormal you can go to Primary Children’s. And if it is ITP there is not a lot to do anyway.
So we started our journey that I never in a million years thought would put us where we are today. After about three hours I started to think maybe I should call the Doc to see what was taking so long. I was also in Provo area and thinking I needed to know what was going on because I was getting close to Salt Lake. The medical assistant said he was in an exam room but would call me back when he got out. I was at 5300 S. when he called. He kept me calm and just said they wanted to run some more tests because there were a few things that didn’t point exactly to ITP. We came up to Primary’s and the ER saw him and didn’t hesitate to admit him. At this point no one is telling me anything. It wasn’t until I walked into the unit he would be admitted to that I knew something wasn’t right.

He is now in the ICS. Immuno Compromised unit is where we are. This was not a good sign to me. Finally our awesome nurse last night sat with us and told us everything that was going on. At this point it started to set in that this was not just blood work they were doing. They hooked him up to the IV. It doesn’t slow him down a bit. We have to run behind him with it. We were in the play room and he was going to fast. We told him he needed to slow down so we could stay caught up with the IV and he said, “okay” and if you know Chaser his “okay” is like the cutest thing is the whole world. He then went on to do the slow motion run. Like “Chariots of Fire”. It was great! His sense of humor will never leave (at least I hope….).

So back to the reality of what was going on. I laid awake last night thinking “how did this happen?” It was crazy how it all fell into place like it did. In fact my in-laws went to the temple last night and my father in law sat next to Dr. T. We were packed for a long vaca and have EVERYTHING we could possibly need with us. Ashton was on his way to a golf trip he had been planning since dec. in palm springs. So at this point I had called him and said I think you need to come back. Ben (Ashton’s Bro.) and Chelsea (my soon to be sis in law) were such a HUGE help. They came for moral support and helped out with the kids, who were both so excited to see Ben and Chels because they love them. Abby was in good hands and went to spend the night with Ben. She was so excited for a sleep over with them. My mom made it down here to stay the night with me until Ashton could get here from Cali. We had a good night and couldn’t get Chase to go to bed. Midnight came and went and he was literally bouncing off the walls still. He was not a sick little boy…..”WHY AM I HERE?” was all I kept thinking. I mostly laid awake last night just thinking what is this??? At this point we had no idea, but the nurse was very helpful in letting us know some possibilities.

By morning and after lots of blood draws we had a better idea that it was Leukemia just didn’t know what kind. We now have a diagnosis of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. He went into surgery this afternoon and everything went great. They got a bone marrow sample, did a lumbar puncture and then put chemotherapy into his CNS, then put in a port. A port is a little piece of plastic underneath his skin so we don’t have to clean it or anything. What it is for is direct access to his blood stream. This is used for any IV’s or for his chemotherapy. He is now up and awake and as happy as he could be for the rough day he has had. For the future we will be making MANY trips to SLC. In the next few months it will be once a week. Treatment itself lasts 3 yrs. So anyone want to sell a house in SLC??? I have a feeling it is going to become our second home.

Your prayers have ALL been heard. Even though the leukemia isn’t the best thing to have on our plates everything else has been textbook and he is on the good side of having leukemia (did I just say good and Leukemia in the same sentence?).

Thank you all for all of your love and support. I know that Heavenly Father has been with us from the very beginning and will continue to be with us because of all of your prayers! We love you all and appreciate all that you are doing for us! It is amazing what love and support gets poured out in times of need! I can’t say thanks enough. I know that each and every prayer has been heard and I have felt every one of them too. Love you all!!!
–Dani Prince

Here is a video that was put together on behalf of Chase.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4xhWctp0O8]

I am lucky to know Chase first hand. He is ABSOLUTELY darling. He has the cutest little voice, and he LOVES otter pops. 🙂 He has played at my house a lot, and his sister Abby is one of Oaklyn’s best friends. Have you ever had something like this happen to someone close to you? I have heard the stories…ya know of a friend of a friend…but this one is the closest I’ve ever experienced. I would do anything to help this family.

Do you remember THIS POST and THIS POST, with the little boy’s room pictured below? Yep…this is Chase’s room that I helped Dani with.

Any support you can give to this family means the world to me. Check out his site below.