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Before Frankie and his
mother had even returned home from the doctor's office, a nurse had
called and spoken with Frankie's dad. "She was very gentle but
direct," Frank Sr. said. She told him that his son may have leukemia
and that Frankie should go immediately to the hospital. Frank
reached his wife by phone and told her. Frank then met his family at
the hospital.
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Diagnosis
Frankie was found to have acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in April
2002.
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DURING (9) |
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AFTER (11) |
The doctors there
confirmed that Frankie did have leukemia, AML in fact. Frank then
broke the news to his son. "I told him he had leukemia and I told
him what that was," Frank said. "I told him it was going to be a
challenge and that we would fight it together. I was crying a little
bit, trying to hold back tears."
"As a parent you hear
the word 'leukemia' and you don't know anything about it. You think
it is an immediate death sentence," Frank said. "And you're trying
to think, 'How much time do I have with my son?' It was very
emotional."
But, Frank said, the
doctor looked him right in the eye and said, "You cannot think that
way. You have to think 100 percent that your son is going to live."
Frank heeded that advice. "We have not thought any different since
then."
At St. Jude ...
...the family underwent a crash course in leukemia. "It was a little
bit scary, but honest and direct. And it turned out that he had a
good type of a bad type of cancer. It was very treatable and he has
a good prognosis."
Frankie, who loves football and other sports, began chemotherapy
treatments that put the AML into remission. "He has done a
tremendous job of keeping a positive attitude throughout this,"
Frank said of his son. "He is a 9 year old with a 9-year-old's
maturity, so he has his moments. But on the whole, he has responded
very well to everything.".
Help yourself, and aid us in our mission of
helping St. Jude and other children like Frankie by
purchasing your copy of Stack the Logs! today!
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