Joshua David Caldwell
He was born a beautiful, healthy, dark haired baby weighing in at 7lbs 11½ oz and 21
inches long. He was such a good baby. He slept through the night at 2 wks old---probably
due to the fact he was nursing, drinking 2-3 oz of formula and eating cereal at night.
Seems he never lost that kind of appetite. I remember him loving chicken. He could eat a
whole chicken leg quarter w/potatoes and a veggie. His one little "fetish" (if
you will) is he hated his hands to be dirty. If he got food on his hands, he'd run right
up to me and say "guck!!" LOL We'd wash his hands more when he was a toddler
than when he did when he had his BMT.
He was a smart kid. He loved school but was very shy. He always did very well and
absolutely loved art. He was always drawing. He was always a good kid. I don't think he
was ever spanked. Oh he'd be punished by sitting in a corner or going to his room but
never spanked. He had the best smile.....his eyes would twinkle.....his slight dimples
would show......and he'd light up a room when he did smile.
At 12, I had believed he was starting to go through puberty. Thought he was about to start
the 'rebelous' teen years. He started getting very cranky......talked back to everyone.
Then I noticed his gums were swollen. I thought "my god, he's got some gum disease
from not brushing!!" He saw the dentist......she did what she could but couldn't
figure out what was wrong. She sent him to a Periodontist. The first visit there, we were
told to take him to the pediatritian for physical and blood tests. It was strange to me
but who was I to argue. They took pictures and sent us on our way.
We stopped at the drs on the way home to set up the appt. I remember telling the nurse we
needed an appt as soon as possible because of the gums. She looked at me funny, left the
room for a while then came back. She had said something about 'not understanding why
Joshua needed a physical for swollen gums" At this point I got aggitated and I
insisted she give us an appt asap. A week later, Joshua and I spent about 2 hrs in the drs
office. The dr did a physical and found Joshua to be basically healthy. Then he called the
Head of pediatric Periodontics to see what could cause the gums to swell. At the time, he
never told us but he was told by Dr Ferrarro that it could be Leukemia. So....the
pediatritian sent us to a local hospital for bloodwork.
At first, I thought about avoiding it for the weekend, but something inside me made me
take him for the tests. We got home and did some running around to get ready to go see the
Blue Angels at the Air Show that weekend. Joshua was soooo excited we were going. Well,
about 9:45 pm, I got a call from his pediatrician saying that some of the blood work was
back and that it was possible that Joshua had Leukemia. I was dazed......stunned and
confused. He said to go right to Boston Childrens Hospital---don't wait for the results to
the rest of the blood work.
I didn't know what to do. All of a sudden, I was 'anxious'......scared even. I had no clue
what it meant to have Leukemia but I knew it wasn't gonna be good. So, we packed the rest
of the kids up and took them to a friends and off to Boston we went. We arrived at almost
midnight and was directed right into a room in the ER. A doctor took us aside---away from
Joshua and told us they had results and he has Leukemia. She said he would be admitted as
soon as possible.
My Inspiration, My Hero, My Best Friend
Hello Friends.....
As some of you may remember, Joshua's birthday is March 23rd. Last year
many of you sent him cards and yes, even gifts. He was overwhelmed and so happy that you
all cared so much. He treasured every card, every Beanie Baby, every note. To this day the
cards he received are still in the same spot he placed them. He HAD to keep them.
Some of you may feel that I'm going way overboard---sometimes I think I
am too because of my overwhelming grief but I just know how much Joshua would love this
"Tribute to His Memory".
Thank you all for being there for me----I don't know what I would have
done for the past couple of years without you.
Kris
