The Start of Our Journey

Grayson Cole was born January 19, 2010. He weighed 8lbs 13oz and was a happy, healthy baby boy. At every well baby check-up he hit or exceeded all of his developmental milestones and has always been in the 95% or above for height and weight. In late October 2010, I started noticing tiny red pin-prick looking marks on various parts of his body. He had some random bruising on his thigh as well but was otherwise totally healthy and normal. I took him to the pediatrician to get it looked at just to make sure it was nothing to worry about and he didn't seem too concerned but told me he wanted to do a blood test just to be sure. One test led to another and after 3-4 weeks of blood draws and exams our baby was diagnosed with Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukemia (JMML). This is a vary rare disease for which the only successful treatment found has been bone marrow transplant.

We have been very fortunate in that we caught Grayson's sickness early and that he has not shown any real symptoms of his illness up to this point. We are in very capable hands (our Lords') and the doctors at Johns Hopkins who are rushing things along to make sure Grayson is as well as possible before undergoing his transplant. We are extremely blessed to have a 100% bone marrow donor match in our only other son, Gavin. God is so good. Please continue to pray for our baby boy and for our family as we weather this storm.