Isaac Sobek

Back in June, Isaac had tiny red dots throughout his body and bruises all over his legs .  We initially  thought that the bruises were from being too rough with his brothers and that the dots were  an allergic reaction.  Unfortunately, however, it was cancer.  Isaac's platelet counts were so low that capillaries were simply exploding (the tiny red dots), and the bruises were from further internal bleeding.   Isaac was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia called AML (acute myeloid or sometimes called myelogenous leukemia) in June.  We just read that it is considered one of the top ten deadliest cancers.  Leukemia is a cancer of the blood and bone marrow, and therefore by nature is found throughout the body.  Isaac also tested positive for a genetic mutation that makes his AML even more aggressive, for it can be very resistant to the standard treatment.  Patients with this diagnosis are given a 30% chance to live, but the doctors were hopeful that a new drug in a clinical trial will help increase that statistic.  Therefore, we enrolled Isaac in a clinical trial that added an additional drug on top of the usual chemo protocol.  He underwent three rounds of chemotherapy in Hartford at CCMC all while hospitalized, and then went to Boston for a bone marrow transplant.  By God's grace he had three perfect matches among his siblings (which was unprecedented, they say), and his older brother Sage became the donor.   Isaac did well with his treatments (difficult as they were), and is now recovering at home in house isolation. We strongly believe in the power of prayer.  God has answered many, many prayers thus far on this journey, and we've seen Him do miracles before with Isaac when he was born ten weeks prematurely.   May He continue to carry us through the rocky road of transplant recovery.