Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We have a lot of family and friends who care about Aiden and want updates. So many changes are happening daily and it's hard for us to keep up with everything, but we hope this will help! We have made daily journal entries here on CaringBridge since we came to the hospital and discovered Aiden's disease. We have tried to record many of our personal thoughts as each day passes. We encourage you to read and feel free to ask us questions through the comments. We will do our best to respond! We have uploaded many of the photos we have taken along the way. You can see these photos in each journal entry or in the gallery.
We have been getting lots of requests for ways people can help. We do have a link to our GoFundMe under "Ways to Help". You should note: GoFundMe is a for-profit company. Any gift you make through GoFundMe is NOT considered a donation and is NOT tax deductible. GoFundMe charges you, the person giving the gift, a fee equal to 15% of your gift to use their site. GoFundMe can be convenient for some, but if you would prefer to make a gift directly to us, please reach out to us so arrangements can be made.
We do have other ways you can help that do not involve giving money. Honestly, reaching out and asking, "What can I do to help?" can be overwhelming for us! Our minds go blank sometimes when we are so focused on Aiden that we forget we still need to take care of ourselves and our home. Whenever we think of something, I have been trying to put to-do items in the "Planner" section above. Some of the big things we need help with that you can find in the planner include helping with pet care, yard work, and housework.
- Dog Care: Scarlett (5 years old) and Charlie (3 years old), both German Shorthaired Pointers, will be staying at a boarding kennel in Brunswick, OH for the foreseeable future. We would love if someone wanted to take them for walks or help them get some exercise.
- Yard Work: From weekly tasks like mowing the grass and one-time items like splitting wood and raking leaves this fall, we have lots of things you can help with in the yard if working outside is your thing.
- House Work: There are plenty of household chores that fall to the wayside when we spend a lot of time in the hospital. We can always use help keeping up with cleaning and sanitizing the house, laundry, and other household chores. We also have curtains that need hemmed if you are handy with a sewing machine. There are other tasks that are a bit more labor intensive if you are up for it, just ask if you want a challenge.
Let us know if you can help!
Many of you have been asking for a little background on our family. Here goes!
Sarah and I met in the summer of 2021 when Sarah was visiting Cincinnati to find a place to live. Sarah was finishing her residency at Mississippi State University in Veterinary Anesthesia and had just secured a job with MedVet, a specialty veterinary hospital with locations across the country. Sarah picked Cincinnati because it was closer to her family, who are mostly located in the Reading, PA area. Drew was in Cincinnati managing real estate development projects for an apartment builder. Our first date in August 2021, meant to be dinner and drinks, went on for 10 hours! We knew we had found our person we wanted to be with.
At the end of 2021, Drew got a tempting job offer back in the Cleveland area. Sarah's employer conveniently had a position open in Cleveland, so we decided to move in together and move to Cleveland. We settled in Brunswick, OH, a suburb of Cleveland. We rented a home between both our jobs with our three dogs, Fynn, Scarlett, and Charlie, and our cat Meeko. It would not be a veterinarian's home without a ton of pets!
In June 2022, Sarah presented Drew with a Father's Day gift that would forever change our lives, a positive pregnancy test! We excitedly started buying baby furniture and prepared our registry. Both Sarah and Drew were at the hospital when the ultrasound for the anatomy scan was performed, and we found out we were having a boy! Wrestling with boy names, we locked ourselves in our house one night with a whiteboard and played with name combinations until we found the one that stuck: Aiden Wallace Cook. Sarah loved the name Aiden and Wallace is a family name on Drew's Dad's side of the family. Aiden would be Drew's parent's 4th grandchild and grandson, and would be Sarah's parent's 3rd grandchild and 1st grandson.
After a long search in the hottest housing market we have seen in decades, we bought a house in November 2022 down the street from our rental house. A fixer-upper that turned out to be a bigger project that we could have imagined. We took on many projects at once and rushed to get the baby's room ready for Aiden's arrival. We could hardly wait for our son to arrive!
We did not have to wait long! On January 25th, 2023, Aiden was born, exactly 4 weeks before his due date. He was 6 lbs, 3.8 oz and perfectly healthy. We were told over and over again that Aiden would likely be born late, as most firstborn children are. Even the doctor on the phone was skeptical when Sarah called to let them know she started contractions. They had us wait to come in until Sarah "could not talk through the contractions". Sarah is such a tough mom that she had no problems talking through her contractions and by the time we started timing them, we were already 4 minutes apart! We rushed to the hospital; Sarah's water broke in the car on the way. We were admitted when her contractions were only 2 minutes apart and she was 5cm dilated. Just three hours later at around 3:30 in the morning, Sarah gave birth to our beautiful baby boy.
Aiden is your typical Velcro baby, and we were fine with that! He loves cuddles and spending time with mom and dad, preferably in their arms. Aiden loves watching his puppies play and meeting new faces. Aiden started daycare at 3 months and enjoyed intently watching the other kids in his room play. We wanted to take Aiden with us everywhere. He came with us on hikes through the MetroParks, to social gatherings, and even to his first Cleveland Guardian's game on Father's Day. He likes riding in the car, but only when it is moving (ha!) as well as hanging onto and talking to his dino that is clipped to his car seat. He despises tummy time (in hindsight, might have been because of the tumor!) and when daddy tries to feed him carrots or pears. He would much rather be fed banana! Aiden was always a happy little guy and loved to smile.
One day, around four and a half months old, Aiden started getting allergy-like symptoms, being congested and generally miserable. When we took him in to the pediatrician, they believed he had an ear infection and prescribed and antibiotic. He then started getting the bruising around his eyes. When he did not get better, we took him back to the pediatrician and when she performed a physical exam she became gravely concerned and insisted we needed to go to the ER right away. So quickly in fact, that we had no choice but to go by ambulance. At this time, Aiden's pediatrician thought Aiden had a clotting disorder. When we got to the pediatric ER at Fairview Hospital, the same hospital where Aiden was born, they ran a number of tests including a CT scan of his whole body. The attending broke the hard news to us; she suspected a subdural hematoma (bleeding through the membrane surrounding his brain), which may have caused the bruising around his eyes. They also identified a 7cm diameter mass in his abdomen next to his right kidney about the size of peach - yes a peach! The attending ER doctor correctly suspected the mass was neuroblastoma. We were whisked away in another ambulance to the main campus of the Cleveland Clinic, on the east side of Cleveland.
You are now all caught up. Check out our journal entries in the "Journal" section above to continue following Aiden's story.
We are so very grateful for all the people across the country who are cheering for, praying for, and thinking of Aiden. Your support means the world to us. We have faith that Aiden is a fighter and will beat this disease to live a full and happy life.
Sarah and I are overcome with the outpouring of support we have been getting through words of love and encouragement. So many have asked what more they can do.
In lieu of flowers, teddy bears, or other physical gifts, donations may be made to the Cleveland Zoological Society in memory of Aiden Wallace Cook, Cleveland Zoological Society, 3900 Wildlife Way, Cleveland, OH 44109 or online at ClevelandZooSociety.org/memorial.
Donations will go towards a memorial sign in honor of Aiden that will be placed at the giraffe habitat visible to the public. Please make sure to include his name on the donation. We are working on finalizing the text for the memorial and will share photos once it is installed. The memorial stays in place for 10 years before it needs to be renewed. Overflow donated funds will apply towards the memorial's renewal.
We are also working on finding a foundation that collects money specifically for neuroblastoma research. Many of the foundations collecting for pediatric cancer donate their funds to research that does not include neuroblastoma. Other cancers such as leukemia and brain cancer get the lion's share of this research money, since neuroblastoma is not as common. Once we find a reputable foundation dedicated to our baby's cancer, we will share it.
Sarah and I have of course been struggling to get on as we cope with this impossible loss. We visited Aiden at the funeral home where we were able to hold him for the last time on Monday the 18th. Aiden was cremated on Wednesday the 20th with his giraffe outfit and overalls, little dino socks, and warm green fuzzy blanket. We picked up his remains this morning. It is a small comfort knowing he is home with us now, although it is much quieter in the house. Scarlett and Charlie are doing their best to cause a ruckus, but it's not the same.
I went back to work on Tuesday hoping a distraction might be what I need to help heal, but it has been difficult to stay focused. Sarah is on bereavement leave this week and will be back at work next week.
We've been dealing with the uncomfortable aspects of moving on. Some of which cannot wait. We got his death certificate which is needed to prove we qualify for a life event that lets us re-enroll in benefits, which must be done within 30 days of your dependants passing. We've returned some of the medical equipment Aiden was borrowing from the Clinic. We cleared through the mountain of other medical supplies at the house. We've also gone through and cleaned all of his toys and stored some of them away so that his room would be an uncluttered place we can sit quietly and remember him. We approved the proof of the text for his urn. It may be a few weeks still before we get it.
Hardly any time passes where we do not think of him and we miss him terribly. We have spent a lot of time looking at photos and watching videos of Aiden. We love our baby very much ❤️
If you insist on feeding us, as many of you have tried to do, please know that while we appreciate it very much we do not have any more fridge or freezer space! Please consider gift cards to ParTake Kitchen https://www.partakekitchen.com/product/gift-card/ (send to my email: acook123189@gmail.com) or Tovala https://www.tovala.com/gifts (send to Sarah's email seshane7@gmail.com).
Patients and caregivers love hearing from you; add a comment to show your support.
Help Aiden Stay Connected to Family and Friends
A $25 donation to CaringBridge powers a site like Aiden's for two weeks. Will you make a gift to help ensure that this site stays online for them and for you?
