The Incredible Mr. E

Ethan was diagnosed with T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia on 1-27-05 at the age of 5.
He followed St. Jude's Total XV Clinical Trial.
He is now 9 years old and has beaten this disease.


Since January 2005 he has faced the following:
Bone Marrow Aspirations: 9
Lumbar Punctures with Chemo: 19
Diagnostic Spinal Taps to check for Blasts: 5
Leg Shots: 73
Port Accesses: 51
Days in the Hospital: 101
Surgeries: 8






Thank you to everyone who checks in on our little boy...please be sure to visit the guestbook, Ethan loves to hear about all the people who stop by.


Get a new shirt to show them how you really feel about leukemia...click on the image below to visit my Cafepress shop!!! We also make them that say "MY BUDDY BITES BACK!"



Click below to hear Ethan's new Song of Love made just for him!!!
Ethan's Song


***New Photos Added 12-3-07***

Donate to our Light the Night walk here: http://www.active.com/donate/ltnDallas/shannonford

Journal

Friday, August 15, 2008 7:25 AM CDT

We successfully made it through another week. I started a new job at the bank this week and it has been a new experience for all of us. Next week Abagail starts in daycare, then the week after, the boys start school. Changes are happening fast and it is hard to keep up.

Thanks for checking in on us...go love those babies!
~Shannon and the gang

Sunday, August 10, 2008 5:57 AM CDT

Relentless:

How many of you can say that there is something in your life that you have been relentless about? I know, some of us strive to be better people, eat better meals, exercise a little more, but really, are we relentless about those things?

When our family teamed up with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society a few years ago, we heard this word used several times. It is like a motto to them.

The true meaning of the word relentless is never-ceasing, to be steady and persistent.

To me the true definition of the word can be seen daily for me in my son. As many of you know, three months into kindergarten his life changed more dramatically than we could have ever imagined when he was diagnosed with T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. The next three years and two months he fought relentlessly to beat the disease he was faced with. Not once did he complain. Not about the monthly spinal taps and bone marrow aspirations. Not about the painful shots in his leg, blood draws and many port accesses. He even didn’t complain (too loudly) about the over 100 days he spent in the hospital due to chemotherapy or unexpected infections from the chemotherapy. Yes, these days were hard on him, but yet, he pulled a power from within to fight relentlessly to be a normal boy again.

Today he is that young boy. One who has overcome a huge obstacle in his life, someone who is much more than what he appears. He is a nine year old, red-headed, bundle of energy whose heart is bigger than most. He carries a pride about what he has accomplished without being boastful. He plays with his friends with a new found respect for the time they have together. All while remaining just a boy. We couldn’t be prouder to say our boy has a relentless spirit about him and I know in the future it will lead him to do great things.

I am asking you to be relentless with us today. Help us to find a cure. We want to help fund the society’s mission. We need a cure. There should never be another child that has to learn the responsibility of being relentless at the age of five. No more parents should have to bury their children because cancer robbed them of their years. Yes, we are the fortunate ones, Ethan’s days of his original diagnosis are behind us, but the fear that he cancer could return is always with us.

Please, donate to our cause, even the smallest amount can make a difference.
http://www.active.com/donate/ltnDallas/shannonford

http://www.active.com/donate/ltnDallas/shannonford

Read Journal History

Hospital Information:

Patient Room: HOME! Thank Goodness!

Cook Children's Medical Center

Fort Worth, Texas

Links:

E-mail Author: txfordfamily@gmail.com

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