Carson, T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Survivor
LLS became very near and dear to the Montanez family in 2019 when Carson was diagnosed with T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. He was 11 years old at the time of his diagnosis and was looking forward to a summer filled with playing baseball and going to the pool with his friends. Carson hadn’t been feeling well for about a week and was sleeping in much later than seemed normal (even for a 6th grader who was probably staying up way too late playing video games with his big brother). His mom Anne, finally decided they needed to go see his pediatrician because he just wasn’t getting better. That day at the doctor's the pediatrician found that Carson’s spleen and liver were slightly enlarged and decided to test for mono. The test for mono was negative, but the doctor wanted to run some blood tests to check a couple of other possibilities.
The next morning the doctor called and said that Carson’s white blood cell count was so high it could only mean Leukemia. Anne was told to immediately take Carson to Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children where he would be admitted for treatment. As you can imagine, this news shattered their world. At the hospital Carson’s white blood cell count was 465,000. For context, the normal range for a healthy 11 year old boy, it is 5,000 - 10,000.
Anne said, "I remember that first night and the oncologist telling us that she planned to have Carson in remission within 30 days, which seemed impossible to us." Throughout treatment Carson began surprising the doctors - not only with how quickly his body responded to treatment, but also in how he handled this big scary disease. He was constantly being poked or tested and felt awful, yet he was kind and full of smiles for everyone who was taking such great care of him. The days and months that followed were filled with painful treatments, extreme nausea and being too tired to do much of anything for Carson. Carson says that one of the hardest things to go through was when he started to have difficulty walking. He began falling because the muscles in his legs were affected by some of the medications he was receiving. His legs would just give out on him and it was really frustrating for him that something as normal as walking had become a challenge.
Carson and his family decided to approach cancer with positivity and hope and they celebrated every single win even if it was simply a report of improved blood counts. Just months after his diagnosis they attended their first Light the Night walk and felt so much love and support. Every year they are inspired by the stories shared by honored heroes and are in awe of this community coming together to Light the Night. Even though there were a lot of incredibly difficult days, Carson feels that he and his family have all been changed for the better through this experience.
Thanks to the Oncology team at RMHC and the work done by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Carson was able to ring the bell signaling the end of treatment on January 16, 2023. Carson is now a healthy and happy teenager who has the whole world ahead of him! Carson shared that every special event or fun opportunity, words of encouragement and chance to snuggle with Posy the therapy dog at RMHC made treatment so much easier. His advice is to focus on the good things and never take any day for granted.