Kevin
along with his father Michael, and mother Deidre, recently met with George and Gary at the
Children's Museum in Boston for the kick-off meeting between the 2003 Pan-Mass Challenge
riders and Pedal Partners. Gary said Kevin was a bit shy at
first but quickly warmed to the prospect of being part of the team. The
tummy raspberries didn't hurt.
Kevin was 3 1/2 and turned 4 on
September 10th 2003. He has ALL (Acute lympboblastic leukemia) Standard Risk which
constitute 75% of all childhood ALL. He was diagnosed Thanksgiving Day 2002
and still has another year and a half of treatment (fingers crossed).
He loves power rangers, his cat
Dodger, dinosaurs, cars, playing on the computer, swimming, wrestling with
Daddy, and of course playing with his friends which seem to be all girls
for some reason!
He dislikes getting his
"plug" in, which is the needle access for his port-a-cath. He hates
getting his asparaginase shot every week but there are only nine left so his
parents are planning a party at the Jimmy Fund on the day of the last
shot!
Kevin was never sick before he was
diagnosed. He was a very tough little boy and still is although he's
not the same little boy. His mother and father say he is very brave and has
gone through so much that as adults they would have trouble handling the regimen.
His mother Deidre said the only
reason they went to the ER the day he was diagnosed was because he had a
stomachache the entire day before which kept him couch bound...very unusual
for such an active little guy! The news was a huge blow to the system as
a family, it was something they never expected. Kevin hadn't been sick a
day in his life.
The steroids he gets every week
are a struggle because they cause leg weakness and pain which aggravates him
more than anything because he can't do the things he wants to do. He loves
jumping on his trampoline and he wants to play soccer on a real team. He
loves his nickname "Mo Cheeks" that his Daddy gave him
after the basketball player and because when he's on his steroids his cheeks
get huge!!
