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Ten-year-old Taylor had pneumonia the first day of fourth
grade at Sugar Land’s Meadows Elementary and stayed home sick the
whole first week. As the year progressed, his mother, Kimberly,
worried continually about his ongoing respiratory problems and
took Taylor to the doctor over and over again.
In the spring, the family was preparing for an Alaskan cruise,
an anniversary celebration with the entire family. The family,
including Taylor, his father Doug, his sister Karly and mom Kimberly
would fly to Vancouver, where they would join relatives for the
cruise. Although pale and weak, Taylor seemed in good spirits days
before they were to leave.
Just as the ship was leaving port, Taylor’s condition worsened.
The ship’s doctor confirmed Taylor was severely anemic and
suggested that Taylor might have leukemia or lymphoma. The
dream-come-true cruise was rapidly turning into a nightmare.
Much to Kimberly’s dismay, Taylor was too sick to fly directly to
Houston. He and his parents disembarked the next day, allowing
Karly to stay on board with relatives. Doctors in Ketchikan and
then in Seattle took several days to stabilize Taylor and perform
numerous tests. Finally Taylor’s condition had improved enough for
him to be transported to Houston, directly to Texas Children’s
Hospital and into the hands of doctors the family trusted.
“We were so grateful to be finally home,” said Kimberly.
Soon after Texas Children’s doctors reviewed Taylor’s Seattle test
results, a social worker met with Kimberly and Doug to deliver the
terrible news. Taylor had myelodysplastic syndrome and monosomy 7, a
type of
leukemia
rarely found in children. The treatment would be a
bone marrow transplant
in addition to intense chemotherapy and radiation. Dr. ZoAnn Dreyer
of Texas Children’s Cancer Center would be Taylor’s oncologist.
“Dr. Dreyer’s heart is at Texas Children’s,” Kimberly said. “She
was always reassuring and made us feel as if Taylor were her only
patient. Dr. Robert Krance in the bone marrow transplant area was
wonderful as well.”
Still very ill, Taylor went home to wait until a bone marrow donor
could be found, having weekly blood transfusions and checkups. A
donor was soon found and Taylor underwent a bone marrow transplant
and treatments at Texas Children’s. After months of intense
treatment, things seemed to be progressing well until Taylor got
an infection in his central line.
“Taylor was admitted to the ICU,” Kimberly said. “He had septic
shock and was in critical condition. They put him on a ventilator
and he was on kidney dialysis. At that point, we even called the
minister.”
“We were just scared to death,” Doug said.
But Taylor weathered the storm and began to recover.
“Taylor’s nurses were just phenomenal,” said Kimberly. “When
Taylor finally walked out of his room after spending a month in
bed, they cheered.”
Two years later, Taylor is at home and in remission. He seems
happy and healthy again, and the family is cautiously
optimistic about his condition.
“Every sick child should be taken care of at Texas Children’s,”
said Kimberly. “The doctors and nurse worked very hard to make us
feel at home there. We are so fortunate to live in Houston, close
to such an outstanding children’s hospital.”
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