Ambassador Highlight: Meet Kaedyn

IMG_3452Kaedyn is a healthy boy who loves playing baseball and graduated from kindergarten a few months ago. When he was 10 months old, he was treated by his pediatrician for stomach pain and swollen cheeks. When his health worsened, Kaedyn’s parents took him to UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital where blood tests revealed a diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer that affects white blood cells.

Kaedyn underwent chemotherapy treatment, but his cancer relapsed just four months later. The best chance he had for a cure was receiving a life-saving bone marrow transplant.

Physicians treated Kaedyn’s leukemia aggressively to put the cancer back into remission so he could receive the bone marrow transplant. Kaedyn spent a difficult four months in the hospital. He endured several serious infections, but he finally received the new cells through the bone marrow transplant in his bloodstream on March 22, 2013.

One month after the transplant, Kaedyn returned home with no sign of cancer in his body.

His parents are very grateful for the entire medical team and staff who took care of their son during this very difficult time in their lives, including those who kept him occupied during the long stays.

“Many of our children become impatient after an extended time,” Kaedyn’s mother, Shelsie, said.

“It’s so important to have some sort of normalcy. Games, toys, and movies provided by the Child Life Program meant so much to my Kaedyn. It is a really blessing to our loved ones.”

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