brady

Letter from the Burkhart Family

Dear Little Cherubs,

   I wanted to write and give a statement concerning our son, Brady Burkhart. Most of
you have already heard that Brady was diagnosis with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.
This type of Leukemia is a cancer that affects the bone marrow and the red blood cell
count. This is what is considered the “good” Leukemia. Meaning, that Brady has a good
chance of fighting this. However, there are no “good” types of cancer.   We are taking
each day as a precious gift from God and pray that Brady will have the strength to beat
this horrible disease.

   Many of you are asking how we found out. Well, it was very quick and real sudden.
Brady has been complaining of shoulder and arm pain since about late March. We
thought that since he is a very active kid that he may have hurt or jammed his arm on the
playground or on his bike. We took him to the doctor the first timed he told us he hurt it.
They did an x-ray and it was normal. We had him take it slow and easy. Well, our
daughter had a pool party at a hotel and Brady slipped on the pool side. We took him
back to the doctor and it was still normal on the x-ray. Our pediatrician, Dr. Robin
Rougeau at Navarre Pediatrics, a week later said it may be Juvenile Arthritis. Show she
ordered blood test the last week of April since she knew he truly was having some type
of pain in his joints. The blood test came back normal and she was going to have another
set of labs in 3 months. Brady seemed to be getting better however, the Friday before
Memorial Day, I picked him up from L.C. And he seemed tired but ok. We were getting
for the spring pageant but he ate and wanted to take a nap. He over slept to go to the
pageant and when he woke up, he couldn't’t walk on his knees. I had to carry him to the
bathroom and around the house. I gave him Motrin and he seemed better, but by Tuesday,
he was not better. We took him back to the doctors and Dr. Rougeau ordered another set
of blood test and knee x-ray. Two hours later, she called us back in to her office and
had our daughter leave the room. She told that his blood counts were normal, but they
had dropped from 30 days ago. She suggested it may be Leukemia but only a Bone
Marrow Biopsy would know for sure but they were going to wait for. She said she had
been in contact with Dr. Griffin, a pediatric oncologist at Memorial’s Children Hospital
that wanted to look at Brady labs result. She also suggested that Brady may have a
tumor in his stomach and ordered a CT scan and Bone Density Test for Brittle Bone
Disease. Well the CT scan never happened.

   Dr. Griffin and Dr.Rougeau called me 36 hours later on Thursday, June 3. She said
that Dr.Griffin had looked at Brady’s labs and we were scheduled for an emergency
Bone Marrow Biopsy at Riley Children’s Hospital for Friday morning. Dr. Griffin
called me into his office to meet him and his oncology nurse, Kathy Thursday afternoon.
He said that when he looked at Brady’s labs, he found abnormal cells in blood which
could point to Leukemia. We would have to wait and see.

   Friday, June 4, after the bone marrow biopsy, we knew in less than an hour that Brady
had Leukemia. We were going to be at Riley’s for at least 5 days so treatment could start
right away.   We knew that night he had the A.L.L type.
Saturday, Brady had a Port IV surgical put under his skin by his heart to administer his
chemo and get blood from him, and this will be in his body for 3 years of treatment. He
had a spinal tap and a round of chemo put in spinal fluid and late Saturday night, he had
his first round of body drip chemo. Every Tuesday, he gets another round of chemo and
it will be weekly for about a year.

   The first 30 day of treatment is called the Induction Phase and this is the most crucial.
He has had weekly Bone Marrow Biopsy due to his first round of chemo not taking to his
body has they wanted it to. He is on a high steroid which has been proven to kill cancer
cells along with making his body stronger to help tolerate the chemotherapy. He is
taking it ok, as well as a 4 year old can. He is real tired and just wants things to go back
to normal.

   He has been a trooper through this and I can honestly say, he is my hero. While we
were in the hospital for the 5 days, I had a crying moment while I was helping him in the
bathroom and he said, “Mom, do you need a hug?” and I said, “Yes baby, I need a hug.”
He said, “I told you Mommy, it is going to be ok”. That is why I handed this situation
over to God, because I know it is going to be ok, since my little guy said so.
   Please continue to pray for Brady and our family. He is scared as we all are. The
support and prayers from everyone has been wonderfully, but we still need more
prayers. We have a long fight ahead of us and we won’t stop until his is cured. We will
keep everyone posted with his updated status. God Bless each and every one of you.
Thank you for caring.

Sincerely,
Farah, Brad, Bailey and Brady Burkhart

Dear Brady,
We love you and pray for you everyday .
With love,
Your Friends at Little Cherubs

Little Cherubs & the Burkhart family would like to give a big
thank you to all the people that came out and helped Saturday,
July 10th, for Brady's benefit! Osolo Fire Department washed cars
& made Brady's day full of fun...these volunteer firefighters are
incredible!!

Thank you!