Keeton was born November 24, 2009. He has been a special little boy from day one. He was born with Down Syndrome, incredible strength and he came into the world smiling. As you can see from my email address "livewithanangel", I truly believe we live with an angel on earth. Keeton radiates loves and melts hearts daily with his smile and laughter. We worked really hard with Keeton, trying to keep him on track with developmental milestones and he was doing well until August 2011.

I noticed he had a little more bruising than usual, but I brushed it off as trying to walk. Then I noticed his skin was a little yellow, but I also tried to think he just had his dad's skin. August 24, 2011, it was a Wednesday, I came home from work where Keeton was at home with Jamie and Ashlyn. When I walked in I could hear what sounded like asthma. I asked my husband and he said he had been breathing like that all day.

Keeton having DS it wasn't uncommon for him to have ear infections and some congestion. He had been very fortunate until August 2011, he was born without heart defects and has been relatively well except for tubes in his ears, double hernia surgery, and in May 2011 he had a cyst that was removed under his tongue. This breathing issue on August 24 was different, it sounded different. He had no fever, no runny nose, lungs sounded clear, but his skin was more yellow and bruising was more apparent. On Friday, August 26, 2011, I stayed up all night listening to him and he was struggling for breath.

So I took him to the local ER about 4 A.M. because he was turning blue. When we got to the ER they could hear him breathing and see his coloring so we were immediately rushed in, thank God. The doctor came in and said that it was the croup so they gave him a shot of steroids and I asked if they needed to do blood work but they said no, just follow up with his pediatrician on Monday because he should be better by Sunday. I had read every book known to man on DS and I knew Keeton was 20% more likely to develop leukemia, and I knew the symptoms. I had this terrible feeling I shared with one of the nurses there that I thought he had leukemia. She has a family member with DS and she knew something was wrong also.

By Sunday his breathing was still horrible and now he was running a high fever of 104. On Monday, August 29, 2011, Keeton's fever was still climbing and his oxygen level was so low they wanted to transport him by ambulance to the ER at Children's Hospital in Birmingham. I drove Keeton and my husband followed. We were admitted that day to Children's Hospital on the 5th floor in isolation for what was thought to be a viral infection. We had a great doctor on the 5th floor that was very concerned about Keeton's platelet count which was around 13,000. A normal platelet count range is 140,000-440,000. Keeton had a bone marrow biopsy and aspirate on September 1, 2011, but it didn't reveal any leukemia cells under the microscope which we would find out later Keeton's could never be seen under the microscope. We got to go home on Sunday, September 4, 2011.

I received a call from the Hemonc department on Friday, Septemer 9, 2011 telling me he must be at Clinic 8 by 3 P.M. to begin chemo immediately because he had Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)that was revealed with his flowcytometry report came back. I threw some things in a few bags and headed off to a scary new world. My husband stayed behind to pick up our daughter and Keeton and I headed out to see what our future would hold. This was our first trip to the oncology clinic and I was scared to death.

Keeton's little body was bruised head to toe from the previous week of daily lab sticks so I could hardly take the pain of him getting another iv and the cultures they had to draw. I stayed outside the door knelt with my head in my hands praying. We were admitted that day and he's had six rounds of chemo which required about a 30 day stay each. Keeton's sixth and hopefully final round of chemo started April 7, 2012 and we came home May 7, 2012. With each round of chemo we were admitted for about 30-45 days at a time and had a short break home for a few days. Keeton's counts were near zero at all times from September-May and now even that we are home his counts remain low. His little body and counts are still recovering and we are so thankful to have him home.

In July 2009, I received the phone call stating her was 100% positive for DS and September 2011, I received the phone call he had leukemia. This special little boy gifted straight from God has gone through so much in his 2 short years of life, but I know he touches hearts and lives daily. He is truly a miracle to us and we are so honored to be his parents.