CHRISTOPHER

Christopher was a happy healthy baby who was born with a small lesion on the top of head that everyone thought was a scratch. As time passed, he met most of his milestones but was plagued with chest infections, multiple ear infections and slowly stopped growing, eventually falling off the growth chart.  He was never sick enough to warrant a trip to the hospital but never well enough to be away from the doctors. We were referred to Dr. Rosner, who immediately admitted him to Grand River hospital thinking he had CF. When that test was negative, we were transferred to The Hospital for Sick Children (Sick Kids) in Toronto. After numerous tests and a biopsy of the scar on his head, Christopher was diagnosed with a rare cancer called Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis. It was in his lungs, skin, mastoid and jaw. His liver and spleen were also enlarged. In 2017, he sadly relapsed with CNS/ND involvement.

Christopher began a lengthy, life long course of chemotherapy and testing. He responded really well to each round however, the chemo was never quite enough to keep the cancer away for good. Christopher has spent his whole life in and out of the hospital. He is now on his 5th protocol after almost a 10 year break. He will be on chemotherapy for at least another 6 -8 months. Chemotherapy as a young adult is extremely hard emotionally, and physically. Being able to do most of the treatment locally has eased some of the burdens that commuting would have brought. It also allowed our family to retain employment and juggle the day to day appointments that chronic sickness brings. It also allows Christopher to stay in touch with his sister, friends and school. He just graduated from high school while on chemo with help from POGO who have been a huge supporter and advocate, as well as, helping with post-secondary education planning.

When this journey began 18 years ago, no one thought we would still be fighting, but with all the support from POGO, GRH staff, the SickKids team and our exceptional group of friends and family we are stronger than ever! Please help us raise money for POGO so that other kids get the same type of care locally! We are forever grateful!