Joshua Eaton is a 7 year old who has been diagnosed with Philadelphia Chromosome positive Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. This is a very rare form of childhood leukemia and we have been told that he is only the 21st patient in the last ten years. Joshua will be undergoing a bone marrow transplant March 14, 1996. At this point his team of doctors at Riley's Childrens Hospital located in Indianapolis, Indiana have given Joshua a 38% prognosis with a Bone Marrow Transplant. His younger brother Chaz, who is 5, is a perfect 6 of 6 Human Leukocyte Antigen match will be his donor and is very happy to be doing this for Joshua. Joshua's older brother, Jason who is 10, will be giving Joshua his bedroom post-transplant.
On April 25, 1996 day 42 post-transplant Joshua was diagnosed with Acute Disseminated (Postinfectious) Encephalomyelitis, (ADEM) which is a inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system that occurs following infection and is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Although ADEM is thought to be an infection-induced autoimmune disease of the central nervous system, its pathogenesis is poorly understood. Although the recognition of ADEM may be facilitated by newer imaging techniques, the optimal treatment of this disease remains uncertain.
On March 14, 1997, one year post Bone Marrow Transplant our son, Joshua Nathan Eaton suffered a relapse. He has been given only a few weeks to live and he intends to live life to the fullest capacity. Joshua Nathan Eaton slipped out of our arms and into the loving arms of God today, Wednesday, October 15, 1997 at 11:57pm. Josh was at total peace and surrounded by mom, dad, Jason, Chaz, Uncle Richard and his nurse.
This is not the way we intended for his story to end, but for those of you that want to learn the true meaning of life it lies in front of you here. Joshua never let the cancer become a burden to him the way many of us let day to day life become a burden to us. May you learn something from his story to carry you through your troubled times. Joshua will live forever in the hearts and minds of many.
This Home Page is on the WWW for many reasons, but the main reason is for support and information for anyone preparing for a Bone Marrow Transplant or dealing with any kind of cancer in general. Our hope is to help you understand what is involved in order to combat this awful disease called cancer. There is approximately 75 printed pages of text throughout Joshua's Home Page. Thank you for your interest.
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Help save a child's life by becoming a You can do it by contacting The National Marrow Donor Program.