CART-19 = Pure Hell

On this day November 5, 2015, BJ received his 200,000 modified T-cells as part of the CART-19 clinical trial at Duke. That day was the beginning of a horrible ending…but we were so hopeful that it was his cure. We were naively excited. It was pure hell. 106 degree fevers for days on end, delusions and hallucinations, inability to speak, low oxygen levels, days in the Duke PICU, lines going in every extremity, stopped heart beat for 8 eternal seconds that scared the entire team, tears, no laughing, no smiles, no food, no drink, cracked and bleeding mouth. Pure hell. But my warrior survived it, only for it to not work for him and we didn’t walk out of that Duke hospital. He was taken by Medic ambulance by my wonderfully supportive Medic family back to Charlotte and our home away from home at Levine Children’s Hospital. November 5. I’ll never forget.

#BJStrong
#MissingYouBJ
#ChildhoodLeukemia #ChildhoodCancer #ChildhoodCancerAwareness#MakeADifference #SFWF #StandFirmWarrior #StepIntoMyShoes

Written by Michelle Love

I'm a mom with a heart split between my child on earth and my child in heaven.