John O'Connor IV Little John

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 Little John is a happy and energetic five-year-old boy.  He is the oldest son of John III and Christina and  Big brother to Stephen.  John enjoys  many activities including swimming, running,  playing monster, playing tag, riding his bicycle, playing with the kids in the neighborhood,  and fishing.  He loves trips to the camp, to the mountains and going to the beach. He loves to be outside. 

This story starts approximately two years ago. John developed a mark on his left cheek. It appeared to be a mosquito bite at first. The mark grew larger and we sought medical attention. Professional opinions ranged from a spider bite, skin infection and the herpes virus.. This summer the mark grew drastically in size,shape, and texture. Christina sought advice from her coworker who started the process and having John worked up. We were eventually referred to Children's Hospital Boston's Vascular Abnormalities Clinic. 


We were evaluated at he the clinic on September 2 and a biopsy was taken on September 6. On September 8 we drop John off at school for his first day at Our Lady's Academy. After dropping John off at school we received a call informing us that the biopsy showed that the growth was a malignancy. We were told to bring John and to Dana Farber Cancer Institute immediately. A day later on September 9 John went for a bone marrow test. On September 14 he had a PET scan.  After meeting with the subject matter expert at Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Children's Hospital Boston the diagnosis was solidified as B cell lymphoblastic lymphoma. We were told that we cannot delay treatment and that John was to be admitted on September 21 to have his PIC line placed and Lumbar Punture with Chemo. 


The treatment that Little John is going through consist of several phases covering two years. Currently Little John is in the first phase consisting of 32 days of inpatient treatment. 


We are confident in the treatment and of the care that Little John is getting. We are very proud of him and look forward to him coming home.