💥 Marshall's Story 💥

July. 1st 2022, Marshall experienced a symptom we were unaware of at the time. We were walking to a parade to celebrate Canada Day and he said, it hurt to walk. Not thinking much of it, I picked him up and carried him to our spot. The following evening Marshall started getting fevers (103°F +) with no other symptoms. After 5 days of battling this fever I finally took him to our local emergency room where we were sent home thinking it was a viral infection. We arrived home at 2 a.m., this is when he completely stopped walking and I realized the connection to July. 1st.

We had a short sleep and left for a bigger hospital in the morning. The doctor here was going to send us home, to come back the following day for bloodwork. I drove about an hour to come to the this hospital and asked if they could just do it now. The doctor agreed, the lab came up and told us we could go home, that the doctor would call me if anything came up. I refused and stayed for the results. The doctor came into the room and thanked me for staying and doing the bloodwork. She informed me she had been in contact with Oncology at McMaster.

We were sent to McMaster via ambulance where they did a repeat blood panel. Within the 3 hours between the 2 blood panels, his hemoglobin dropped, requiring a blood transfusion in the emergency department. After multiple tests to rule anything else out, Marshall ended up getting a bone marrow aspiration. It took 24 hours for these results. We were sat in a private office and told our 2 year old son had 20% blasts in his blood. This is the cancer cell in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, blood cancer. He would require 2 and a half years of treatment. The following day he got a port put into his chest and started chemotherapy. Going through all this was very scary for not only Marshall but for ourselves. McMaster provided Marshall with toys every time he went through something scary (needles, NG tube etc..) Most times this was the only way to get him to calm down to allow us to proceed with treatments.

People like you make it easier on the family and child going through treatments. It may also be the last toy some of the children may play with. It means the world to some families. One last smile, or a final keepsake for the family.

On behalf of team Marshall we thank you

About McMaster Children's Hospital

McMaster Children’s Hospital has been providing care to children from across the region since 1988. Here, patients ranging in age from infancy to 17 receive care through a family-centred approach that accounts for the child’s emotional, mental and physical well-being.

The hospital is home to the fastest-growing kids-only emergency department in Ontario, one of Canada’s most advanced neonatal intensive care units, and a range of programs and clinics with unique expertise in a number of areas including children’s cancer, digestive diseases, and mental health.

For more information visit the McMaster Children's Hospital Website