Alexander Klug Alex Klug

Alex is a 17-year old from  Cedarburg , WI.  He is a high school senior who will graduate in June 2017.  He is a high honor student and plans to attend UWM after graduation and will major in physics (astrophysics).  His plans hit a major roadblock in September 2016.  Alex had been feeling ill for about 3 weeks (tired, sweaty, and just feeling blah).  During the first week Alex went to the doctor because he noticed a lump on the right side of his neck. We were told then that they didn't think it was anything more than a virus and two days later the lump went away. The following week Alex began having fevers reaching as high as 102.6.  On September 21, Alex's fever reached 103.1.  The next day, I took him to express care at our local clinic.  They did some blood work and that came back showing extremely high white blood cells and very low platelet levels.  Express care then sent us to the emergency room at the hospital for further testing.   Those tests showed the same results; however, they couldn't find a source of an infection.  The platelet levels were dangerously low, and because this could result in spontaneous bleeding, it was decided that Alex needed to be transferred to Children's Hospital (The local hospital would not admit him because he was a minor). Alex's words were "Oh, cool my first ambulance ride".   Now here is where the story takes a turn. Once at Children's, we met with a bunch of doctors, did more blood work and played the waiting game. The afternoon of September 22 is when our world changed.  Alex was diagnosed with Leukemia. What a shock that was...... Alex was then transferred to the HOT unit (a special unit in Children's for kids with cancer and blood disorders).  New unit, new doctors, and our new home for the time being.