Urgent Prayers for Little Boy AJ and His Family in Need of Support and Healing

[nikked]

We have a new(ish) family attending our church (about a month or so). Their only son, AJ, is about 8 or 9 I think.

Since they've been attending, there's been something not quite right with him.

Some details I just learned...he's been jaundiced off and on, and has had some stumbling and hitting walls problems. To me, he has always been extremely pale, but he is also a red head, so figured that was why.

Last night, something happened (don't have details yet) which caused dad and mom (Armen and Barb) to take him to the hospital.

Apparently, he is down to 20% of his normal blood volume (!!!!!), and is very sick. They are transfusing him, and running a bunch of tests right now.

So, please be praying for little AJ and his mom and dad. The doctors and hospital staff too.

Thank you.

 

[jrstephens]

Prayers said. Keep us posted.

 

[CookingwithMary]

Prayers here for AJ's healing, his parents, and the medical team.

 

[vwpamperedchef]

Awe the poor little guy! Him and his family will be in my prayers.

 

[baychef]

Prayers for this little guy and his family for a quick diagnosis and quick medical care. Keep us posted.

 

[pampered1224]

Geez, poor guy. Same here. I know how it feels to not know what is happening to you. I hope they find it and fix it!

 

[twinchefs]

Praying for him and his family.

 

[Kathie's Kitchen]

Praying for AJ, his family and the medical staff to have the wisdom to find the solution quickly

 

[pampchefrhondab]

I'm praying for this poor little boy and his family.

 

[pcchefjane]

Ditto here in TN!

 

[Kitchen2u]

Praying the doctors find out what's going on, so Mom & Dad can have some peace in knowing and praying for whatever he has...he gets RID of fast!

 

[cookingwbecca]

Prayers from Maryland for AJ and his family....

 

[laurichef]

Praying for him and his family.

 

[PChefPEI]

Prayers for the little guy and his family.

 

[nikked]

UpdateSo...

He has Leukemia, which is what most of us were thinking but no one wanted to voice.

Don't have a stage or specific type diagnoses yet, but it is affecting (infecting?) 85% of his bone marrow.

At 9:30 tomorrow morning (MST) they will be putting in a port to begin administering medications.

Please continue to pray, and especially remember his mama. I can only imagine the anguish she is feeling.

Thank you.

 

[pampchefrhondab]

Oh gosh! I will continue to pray. Please keep us updated.

 

[quiverfull7]

Prayers prayers prayers ... for all involved! Jesus, be near and heal.

 

[PChefPEI]

That sucks... I will keep praying for everyone!

 

[nikked]

Quick UpdateSo,

He is responding well to the transfusions, and his blood counts are dramatically coming up.

Don't know if I posted this before, but we don't have a stage or specific type diagnosis yet, but it is affecting 85% of his bone marrow.

I'm going down tomorrow to sit with AJ for a little bit so his mom can go home and shower and such. She hasn't left the hospital since they went in (Wednesday night, I think).

Thanks for your continued prayers. I will post an update after I return tomorrow.

Nicole

 

[pampered1224]

Prayers for you too Nicole. You are a good soul. Such a kind thing to do.

 

[nikked]

Newest UpdateSo,

He looks incredibly well. We ended staying a little over 5 hours, and had a great visit.

The hospital recently went through a major renovation, and it really shows. The rooms are huge, with a full bath, bed for the parents, lots of seating, etc.

He has a diagnosis of: Precursor B Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (A.L.L.), Standard Risk. It seems like the risk level is the terminology that they're using instead of stage. Low Risk being the best prognosis, Standard Risk the next.

He has started chemo already. When the doctor came in the morning, he said that his blood counts were almost back to normal, and that for the time being they weren't going to do anymore transfusions. They want to see where it's going to go on its own.

It does look like the steroids may be affecting his glucose levels, which is a common side affect. So that is a definite area for prayer.

As long as everything stays on the current course, AJ should be able to come home on Tuesday.

I will continue to update as I receive information. I don't know if they family knows about Caring Bridge, but I will be mentioning it to them tomorrow.

Thanks to one and all for your continued prayers of faith for AJ!

Nicole

 

[nikked]

P.S.

The Dad, Armen, was commenting on how overwhelmed they were with the prayers and support they are getting. Paraphrased..."We have like 10 or 11 churches across the country praying for us!"

I said, "Oh, honey, you have more than that!" and told them about my "online community" with people from around the world praying for them. You should have seen his face light up!

So, thanks for encouraging them with just the thought of all y'all praying for them and their little boy!!!

Nicole

 

[lockhartkitchen]

My co-worker's 4 year old son was diagnosed with a form of that last year. One thing that the family really asked for was bed sheets. The medication made him sweat so bad that he would completely soak the bed. It's things like that I would never have thought of. Our prayers are with the family.

 

[nikked]

Quick UpdateThank you, Julie for the tip.

AJ is doing well, and is on schedule to come home tomorrow.

He is having trouble with headaches from the spinal taps. They were waking him up last night, so please be praying specifically for relief from those.

His blood tests are showing a great response to the treatment so far, with his white cell count coming down drastically, and the immature "blast" (???) cells completely gone. They believe he should be in remission before 29 days (the goal), which is what the family has been specifically praying for. It is so awesome to see God at work. He will need to continue the treatment plan (2 or 3 years), but what an AWESOME God we serve!

A little background learned tonight:

They are an older couple, with AJ being the only child. Barb suffered a couple of really rough miscarriages, and they had given up. Then, there was AJ! So, we are believing that their little miracle baby will continue to be miraculous!!!!

Thank you all for your continued prayers. At this point, I'll post updates as they come!

 

[nikked]

UpdateSo far, things are going well. He is making his own plateletts (up to over 218,000), and his ACN (which somehow tracks his immune system) is over 2,000 (below 500 and he has to wear a mask, can't eat fresh fruits and vegetables, or have fresh flowers in the house).

His hemoglobulin (sp?) is low, and they're not sure why. The docs are running a follow-up test today to see where it's at. If it's still low, he'll need another unit of blood before they do chemo and a bone marrow biopsy on Thursday. As of the last biopsy, he still had leukemia cells in his body, but they were down to 30% (from 85%).

Thanks for your continued prayers for AJ.

 

[PChefPEI]

Prayers still coming AJ's way and for his family.

 

[nikked]

Update and Caring BridgeHello, one and all!

AJ is doing well, and is all but cancer free. However, and it's a big "however", he has been classified as a "Slow Early Remission", or SER. What that means is that his leukemia is more resistent to the chemo, and instead of going into the maintenance phase, he will have to undergo quite a bit more chemo.

A Caring Bridge site has been set up at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/ajkronback ...

As always, thank you so much for your continued prayers for this prescious little gift!

 

[PChefPEI]

Thanks for the update. Still praying for AJ and his family.

 

[pampchefrhondab]

Yes, thank you for the update. I will continue to pray for AJ and family as well.

 

[nikked]

Update...

AJ has been doing miraculously well, but last night suddenly developed a high fever (101.4). They admitted him last night, and planning on keeping him for a few days.

According to mom, Barb, they were told at the beginning of the that his ACN (immune system numbers) were 1440, when they were actually 200. So, she didn't take any precautions, and now his is very ill.

She does have a Caring Bridge site at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/ajkronback if you would like to receive updates yourself.

Thanks for your continued prayers...

 

[tabnat80]

I don't know how i missed this thread in the past. It hurts my heart so much to see a child with cancer. I will be praying for him and his healing. May God bless his body and heal him back to health.

 

[milkangel]

I know perosnaly this family they use to live her in mn. i knew nothing about it till i read this form. when was it diagnosed? I haave her e-mail.

 

[milkangel]

it just makes me said to see any one go through this. because i have had quite a few that i know that has gone through this sorta think and it is not fun. so I know i will be praying for the family.

 

[SeeMe4PC]

Prayers from Oregon for him and his family - for you, too.