Death of a Superhero

A Family's Story about Courage, Bravery and the Defining Moments of LOVE

Our sweet, lil' baby love lost his battle to AML Leukemia on March 8, 2010. We fought long, hard and very aggressively for 2.5 years, only to have his cancer come back for the fourth time to finally take his life. He was only 3 years old.

This entire blog is about Hunter's amazing journey. It's about his life and his love......his determination and his courage.......his absolutely, brilliant personality, and the affect he's had on people all over the world.

He's left an unimaginable footprint on this earth and has changed the lives of thousands of individuals. People who didn't realize how precious life was, now live it with extreme gratefulness. People who took every minute they get to spend with their children for granted, now savor every last second. And people who weren't quite sure what love is all about, now love deeper, love stronger and love with every ounce of their soul.

People all around the world have shared their love, their well wishes, their prayers and their inspiration, and we could have NEVER achieved as much as we did without them. We are humbled by their generosity & their true friendships & are forever grateful for every last person that has come into our lives through our experience with Hunter. He was our precious baby love who we loved and cherished with all our hearts and we are forever crushed and terribly, broken-hearted.

Dance in the clouds baby cakes. Mom & dad are watching proudly & you will remain so very close to our hearts for all of eternity.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

On our way.....to Hunter's new life



Day -2 UNTIL TRANSPLANT

Radiation finished........chemo has begun. We have absolutely NO complaints as of yet. Hunter is rockin' the house and is showing us all up by handling everything like a true champion. We were told that by the 3rd day of radiation that Hunter would probably be pretty tired and might sleep a good bit..............well.........Hunter has been up to about 1am almost every night and he's in the best mood....giggling, playing, talking MORE THAN EVER and even started to crawl and stand up and use his legs!!!!! WOW! He has totally amazed us and is proving, once again, that he's not giving up. He's literally looking Leukemia right in the face right now and smiling. We couldn't be more proud. We even got a chuckle out of the doctors today when we told them that so far conditioning for transplant has been easy breezy - and seriously, compared to what we've already been through.......this week was nothing.

He started his Cyclophosphamide chemo yesterday and has to get additional fluid due to the toxic damage it can do to his bladder. We have to change his diaper every hour for 72 hours to monitor the fluid coming out to make sure that his body is flushing appropriately. He has a pretty severe diaper rash......raw butt for sure......and it's makes him pretty unhappy......but we're trying to make him as comfortable as possible and change his diaper as gently as we can. He also has an oral rinse by the name of Chlorhexidine Gluconate, (aka mouth acid), that we have to use in his mouth 4 times a day. Another time when Hunter gets quite pissy. We now have to bribe him with toys and stickers every time we rinse. I had to make an additional trip to ToysRus yesterday to stock up on goodies. They go pretty fast! But the mouth rinse is a good thing and helps prevent any kind of sores or infections that he might get due to everything his body is being put through. The mouth is an icky place and can harbor lots of bacteria!

We are getting excited that we are almost to transplant and Hunter's body seems to be pretty strong. One of the major concerns going into it about 2 weeks ago, since his body didn't really have a whole lot of time to recover from the last round of chemo. Sooooo...........today is the last day of chemo......tomorrow is his day of rest.......and he gets a brand new life on Monday. We've been told that most parents also celebrate transplant day as a second birthday and we have absolutely no problem doing that!! Who wouldn't want 2 birthdays!!!???

Me and Bean. I could hold him in my arms forever.



Hunter looking cool on one of his trips down to Radiation. He's listening to Kings of Leon on dad's iPhone......travels in style.



Getting ready for the last radiation treatment! We're busy smiling, Hunter's busy watching TV.



Hunter in his UNBEATABLE shirt. He's got his eye on the technicians making sure it's all going OK!



Getting ready to be put to sleep in dad's arms.



We hate seeing this part, but it's good for his eyes. No sense in radiating the eyeballs!



But we still get giggles afterwards!





Hunter getting his last dosage of Cyclophosphamide.............chemo.....schmemo

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I am so glad to hear that Hunter is doing so well. As per usual I have tears when I read the updates - the tears of joy are way cooler though.[= We will all be praying for you in our own ways - as well as rooting for the most positive of outcomes. Shine on lil' man !! Hang in there proud Mama & papa - You guys are doing an amazing job !! [=

Bear hugs !! ~ Sierra Montgomery