Kolby was diagnosed with Leukemia (ALL) in March of 2017. He was six years old.
The symptoms leading up to this diagnosis – individually – all seemed minor. His parents, Jennifer and Kyle, had always found Kolby to be a picky eater so when some of his lunches began to come home from school, it really wasn’t concerning. His energy was low, although only really noticeable when he was playing hockey. Kolby had always loved hockey and, in the two months prior to the diagnosis, he didn’t seem to enjoy it, just going out and skating around. In February, he began to have headaches and even fell asleep in class one day. Jennifer and Kyle knew something wasn’t right, but were at a loss as to how to proceed.
“His demeanour seemed off,” Jennifer explains. “He was angry or upset a lot, and we were so frustrated because nothing we tried seemed to help.” It wasn’t until one day when Kyle was at Kolby’s school and noticed he was sitting outside the doors at recess that their concern became more pronounced.
“We asked why he wasn’t out playing with his friends and Kolby very calmly said ‘he just didn’t feel like it’, which we knew wasn’t right,” Jennifer recalls. “We finally made a doctor’s appointment and were sent for blood work.”
The very next day, the phone rang at 5 am. On the other end was the local hospital. Kolby was to be brought into the hospital right away; the initial thinking was that he had a primary blood disorder.
“I jumped up, heart racing, and woke my husband, telling him what was going on,” remembers Jennifer. They headed to the hospital. “More blood work…different doctors giving us bits and pieces of news about what they thought it could be…lots of waiting while we tried to convince ourselves it was an infection, or a virus,” she explains. Eventually Jennifer and Kyle were told that it looked like Kolby had Leukemia.
Cancer.
Jennifer describes her reaction: “My heart sank. I was in such shock and disbelief, total denial. I repeated over and over ‘does this look like a kid who has cancer’.”
In less than two hours, the family was sent by ambulance to London Health Sciences Centre, and was facing the reality that Kolby was a kid who had cancer.
The first two days were so scary. Chaotic. Filled with so many tests, needles, scans, a blood transfusion. Jennifer, Kyle and Kolby met so many doctors, teams, nurses, social workers, hospital staff – and also Renee from Childcan.
“I recall sitting in the hall outside of our room with her, although I have no idea what I said, or if it made any sense,” says Jennifer. Renee gave the family some gift cards, a quilt, food vouchers and a parking pass to be used throughout Kolby’s treatment.
“Most importantly,” Jennifer clarifies, “she let us know that we weren’t alone, that we were now part of the Childcan family, and always would be. If there was anything we ever needed, we just had to let her know. At that moment, I didn’t realize how much Childcan would come to mean to our family.”
Kolby spent five weeks in the hospital with Renee checking in every couple of days. The food vouchers that Childcan provided during this time helped the family through many days and, with Kolby’s picking eating, made it possible to find something he would eat as well.
Kolby had four scheduled inpatient stays for high dose chemo. Jennifer and Kyle would let Childcan know they were coming and Childcan was there, not just with food vouchers but also with words of encouragement to help them cope. Childcan also provided financial support which helped enable the family to keep their focus and energy on their child, the only thing that matters.
Fast forward to today, July 2020, and Kolby is now nine years old and just reached the end of his treatment. There were many unexpected bumps along the road and Childcan remained by the family’s side throughout, providing emotional and financial support.
“It was a long journey,” says Jennifer, “and there were so many days where it felt the end would never come but now that we are here, we are excited to close this chapter and live yet another ‘new’ normal. It is reassuring to know that will have our friends at Childcan long after chemo ends.”