Joey was diagnosed on Monday, July 18th, 2022 with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) at age 15. He had been tired and not himself. He was exposed to Covid, so I thought maybe that was it. But he tested negative, so we were going to head over to the doctor. When he went to take a shower, he fainted. He fainted again in the ER and, within an hour, I was told he had a form of blood cancer. We then met with Dr. Zinn, and he was admitted to the PICU and received platelets. Wednesday, he got his broviac and by Thursday morning, he was receiving treatment. This began his 4-month treatment plan. He spent 90% of his treatment in-patient with a little break before each round began. The doctors, nurses, and hospital staff at Lehigh Valley Reilly’s Children Hospital were great. They became our second family.

Joey went into fight mode immediately. The first month was the worst and really took a lot to push through; but each round, he was better prepared for the fight. He had a goal to get back to basketball for summer league, so he kept that in sight and kept pushing. Joey is very fortunate in that it only took 4 cycles of chemo to be done and in remission. We are so thankful to the doctors for all they did to keep him with us.

PCFLV reached out right after diagnosis and was there for us the entire time and has still been there after treatment. They came to see us in the hospital, offer support groups, and do get-togethers for both parents and the kids. It is nice to have this community that fully understands your fears, and where everyone is right there with you, cheering on your child. We will always be thankful for their support during and after and will do all we can to continue to support them and help other families.

Written by Joey’s mom, Megan

Please consider helping children with cancer and others in our community by scheduling a blood donation at Miller-Keystone Blood Center: https://donor.giveapint.org/donor/schedules/zip