If you are logging on to this site you probably know that Davis was diagnosed with leukemia. He was admitted to Children's Hospital Los Angeles last Friday, March 22nd after Jeff took him to Exer Urgent Care in Manhattan Beach to get some inflamed lymph nodes checked out. On Friday, March 1st, he had his wisdom teeth removed. He suffered the typical swelling for a few days but nothing out of the ordinary. The second week after the surgery, he noticed one swollen lymph node under his jaw so he went back to see the oral surgeon who thought it might be due to draining from the extraction. The doctor advised watching it over the next week. Over that period, a few more lymph nodes showed up along the back of his neck and upper shoulders. Fortunately Jeff was concerned enough to take him to urgent care versus waiting further. They took a blood draw and saw that his white blood cell count was elevated. They advised taking him straight to Children's for further testing. So Jeff and Davis went home threw clothes in a bag and headed to the hospital. After looking at his blood in the emergency room at Children's, he was admitted. At about 11:30pm that night, we received the leukemia diagnosis.
Over the weekend they monitored his blood and tried to keep him hydrated so that on Monday they could do a spinal tap and a bone marrow biopsy. Before the procedures, we received the news that it was the AML versus the ALL type of Leukemia. Thankfully, the spinal tap results showed no signs of cancer cells. YAY! We are still awaiting the results from the bone marrow biopsy. Those tests should tell us more about the genetic blueprint of the cancer cells and allow the doctors to further refine his treatment. He also had a port put in the bicep of his upper left arm (so he could potentially throw with his right during his time in the hospital). The port allows them to easily hook up IV's or draw blood without repeated pokes.
With AML, they try to hit it very hard with chemo followed by a recovery period of about 3-4 weeks. He received some initial treatment on Monday but the heavy chemo drugs started last night, Tuesday, March 27th. It was a rough night...chills, fever, nausea, diarrhea, etc. He will continue to get the same drugs every night for next 5 nights total. Then his body will be allowed to recover over the next 3 weeks or so. Once his white and red blood cell counts reach a certain point they might allow him to come home for about a week. Then, he will return to the hospital to start the chemo cycle again, followed by a recovery period in the hospital, and then a short time at home. This cycle of chemo and recovery will continue for 4-6 months., after which, he will hopefully be in remission. The length of the recovery periods are dependent on how quickly his body recovers.
Because his immunity will be down, he will need to stay in the hospital for most of the next 4-6 months. And it is extremely important he does not get any type of infection. Even having the fever today was significant, since they can't be sure it was due to the chemo or an infection.
Deep breath....still not sure how all this happened and while we all know your life can change in a heartbeat, we are still in shock as we adjust to this new reality. We are so grateful Davis is strong mentally and physically. He is approaching this like its 4th and 20 with his team down and only a few seconds to play. We've seen him make things happen on the football field over and over again and have no doubt he will be make great plays once again. But just like with football, he needs his team now. It's not an individual sport.
Over the last few days, we have been blown away by the outpouring of love, support and prayers. Please know that your efforts are much appreciated.
We hope this site will help us communicate how Davis is doing and what lies ahead as they fine tune his treatment plan. We welcome everyone's encouragement on this site or via personal texts and emails. We are so grateful.
We are also thankful for the care he is receiving at Children's, under the direction of Dr. Bhojwani and her colleagues. The nurses and support staff have been wonderful and we feel like he is in the best hands possible for this fight.
