It all started on a sunny, summer day - June 12, 2007. I had been to a dental appointment and thought that things couldn't get any worse. How wrong I was! My granddaughter, Brittany, called and said that she had taken my precious great-grandson, Landen, to the doctor for what they thought was a hernia. The doctor did an x-ray and before Brittany could get back home, he called and said to get him to Tulsa to the hospital.
I met Brittany and Landen at the hospital and we were informed there was a mass in his little stomach. How could that be? This little, very active 3 1/2 year old who was so full of energy. How could anything be wrong with him? The next few days confirmed the doctor's worse fear - Landen had cancer. He had a very fast growing, very aggressive and terminal form of cancer called neuroblastoma. They told us without treatment he may have thirty days. Thirty days?
Brittany and Landen went through fifteen months of very difficult times. He had numerous chemos, radiation and even the stem cell transplant. This precious little boy lost his hair many times but not his determination. He never complained about pain or any of the things that made the rest of us cringe. He was such a trooper.
He loved Spiderman and was seen many times around the hospital wearing his red cape. He would take tape and make spiderwebs all over his bed. He loved silly string and many times would be waiting on his doctors and/or nurses to make an appearance before he sprayed them with silly string. He was so artistic - I couldn't believe those little hands could do what he did. We spent many hours coloring, drawing and playing with magic markers. He loved anything he could do with his hands.
We took him to Disneyland (thanks to Make a Wish) and had to cut the trip short because he was not feeling well and a hurricane was bearing in on Florida and we didn't want to get stuck down there. We came home and he spent a week in the hospital and then went home to his MaMa's and was there for a week before he passed away and into the arms of Jesus. He had such a zest for life and fought right up until the end. He went to Wal-Mart the night before he passed away so he could shop. What a blessing this little boy had on so many people. He influenced so many people everywhere he went.
Thank you Landen for a lesson in living life to its fullest in the time that we have.
Love you so much precious little boy,
JuJu