Zachery's Mom knew that something was wrong for months, she had taken him to their
pediatrician, urgent care, and Emergency rooms several times, but his sickness was misdiagnosed or dismissed.
"Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is most common in children 2 to 8 years old. Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) can happen at any age, but most cases happen in kids younger than 2 and teens. " https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/cancer-leukemia.html (ALL is what Zachery was diagnosed with)
Although leukemia is the most common type of cancer in children none of the doctors ordered a blood draw for him until one night Zachery went to sleep and when he woke up he had bruises on his arms that weren't there the day before and was jaundiced. Heather took him to the hospital and pleaded for them to help him, something was wrong. The ER doctor finally ordered a blood draw and when he saw the results, he immediately told her.
"I believe your son has leukemia, and a helicopter is waiting to take you to Las Vegas right now." -WARMC ER Doctor
They were in the hospital in Summerlin for 18 days and were then transferred to the Ronald McDonald House which is where Heather (Mom) Kevin (Dad) and Zachery are all staying to finish the remainder of his treatment. This initial aggressive treatment should eliminate 99.9% of cancer. However, they will have to return to Las Vegas 2-3 times a week for several years to check and confirm. Thankfully they have a place to stay at Ronald McDonald house which is free for families of children receiving treatment. There is also a complimentary shuttle that will bring them back and forth from Las Vegas on the treatment days. Just that alone will save them thousands of dollars.
Zachery has had 4 blood transfusions, 3 platelet transfusions 9 chemotherapy treatments. He has 3 more chemotherapy treatments. One into his spinal fluid to keep the caner away from his brain and two more into his port that is in his chest.
However Heather will not be able to return to work as she will have to accompany Zachery. So they will now be depending on one salary.
Our community in the last week and a half has stepped up and shown incredible love and support by putting signs up for leukemia awareness in their offices, collecting money, and wearing orange on Thursdays.
MALC raised $3900. The MALC Key Club raised $291 at the Swap Meet selling cotton candy and 50/50 raffle tickets. Automobile Consulting Services will be matching up to $1000 of all monies donated.
New Day School in Bullhead will also be donating $2 for each dollar of all the money donated by its students.
Desert Star Academy a Charter school in Fort Mohave raised $579 by their students donating and wearing orange on Thursdays. The amount of love and support from the community is profound.
Over 30 local businesses have Jars and signs up in their locations where they are collecting money for Zachery and wearing orange on Thursdays to show their support for him.
Local businesses are organizing a 5K to raise money for Zachery
and the Local Mohave Motorcycle Club is putting together a fundraising motorcycle ride.
Walmart where Heather and Kevin are full-time employees were all wearing orange last week to honor Zachery. The Bullhead City Fire Department sent a hat and a lego fire truck. Previous Fire Chief Southey personally went to visit and took some of his firetruck collectibles to Zachery.
There was a blood drive held in Zachery's honor and 53 people showed up to give blood. One of the biggest donation days for a single blood drive.
River Fund will be able to help them with bills that are piling up.
Bullhead continues to do what it does best which is to rally around each other and show love, generosity, and compassion to the hurting in our community.
"We do not have the words to express our most sincere gratitude and appreciation to our community in our family’s most difficult and trying times. Simply saying Thank you just does not seem enough. The love and support that we have received are nothing less than amazing and truly heartwarming. As unfortunate as it is to be in Las Vegas battling this terrible illness, we are able to sense the love, support, and energy that Grace and our wonderful community have created. Seeing Zachery smile as we show him pictures of people wearing orange, organizing events, and sending him love and support makes us realize that all those efforts truly make a difference on so many levels. We have lived in this community for 25 years and have never witnessed the love, unity, and awareness that our community has displayed. It has helped make us strong. We are truly thankful for everyone that has helped our family during this difficult time. So from the bottom of our hearts Thank You."
The Farley Family
Next Thursday I (Grace Hecht) will be coming around to all the businesses where I dropped off the jars to collect money for Zachery. We will count it together and make a running tally of how much our community has collected for Zachery. Thank you Bullhead for showing up big for Zachery and his family. #TogetherWeMakeBullheadBetter
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