Daleigh is a lively handsome and sweet little 5 year old. He loved going offroading and camping, he loves everyone he meets and he is the life of the room wherever he goes. Slowly, he started getting more and more tired, eating less, fevering, and losing color. His family found out he had a type of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. This is his story.

      "He went to the doctor and the doctor really didn't like how pale he was and ordered some blood tests on a friday. Doctor figured anemia or an auto immune disease but was most concerned about his blood counts. Over the weekend, when waiting for results, each symptom got worse. He was awake only a few hours a day and ate next to nothing. I called to the doctor on Monday and made him aware of what was going on. He told me to go to the ER immediately.

 So, off to the ER we went. The ER doctor knew something was wrong and took blood, with a rush on results. The doctor decided to admit Daleigh to the childrens hospital next door, into the oncology intensive care unit, where we were informed that he had a type of Acute Lymphoblastic Luekemia. He then had a lumbar puncture and spinal tap which revealed he was a pre b and that the cancer has not spread to the central nervous system.

We (Daleigh and Mom and Michael) spent 11 days in the hospital for a total of 3 platelet transfusions and 11-12 blood transfusions and for intense monitoring. We found out that Daleigh's blood count levels were VERY low. His platelets were at 10 (normal is 150-450), hemoglobin level was a 2.5 (normal is 11-16) and ANC (the magical immunity number) was at 16 (normal is over 1000) which nakes him neutropenic as well. The white blood cells were out of control and immature, hence Leukemic.

We had a 'family conference' to discuss a plan of action and his treatment, and this is what we found out: Daleigh does indeed have Precursor B Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). He first has a 28 day "induction period." He's on steroids twice a day along with a concoction of 4 other medications day and night. He is also on a "no concentrated sweets diet" for the duration of the steroids as well. He's had 5-6 rounds of chemo therapy including 2 directly into his spine through lumbar puncture. For the next 6 months, he will be receiving chemo through a cathedar near his heart every week and a spinal chemo injection once a month. Hopefully after this 6 month period his Leukemia will go into recession and we will start a 2-3 year "maintentance period where he will be receiving chemo each month to make sure his bone marrow is no longer producing "blasts" (cancerous white blood cells).

Daleigh lives with his Mom and her supportive boyfriend Michael. And now its 6 months of staying inside and healthy and most importantly clean. We've been taking steps to make the home a healthier place, like getting the air ducts cleaned, purchasing an air purifier, and LOTS of saniters and cleaners. It's a new way of life, but we are slowly starting to adjust and trying to make the best out of each day!"

This precious little boy could use any help he could get. We encourage you to buy a wristband, donate money to help, or even donate blood. 

• To buy a wristband to support Daleigh and to donate money visit: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=9ZSZSZK6A8UN2
• To read updates on how Daleigh's doing visit his facebook page and "like" it: http://www.facebook.com/dmF.LEUKEMIA    
• If you're looking to donate blood you can go to: 505 S. Main St, 1st floor, Ste 185, Orange, CA. 714.532.8339. Please call first, for a over the phone pre-screening and appointment. He is B+, however, ANY type will help since they can sort out the platelets. If Daleigh doesn't end up being able to use your blood, there are MANY other children at CHOC who can use it as well.