Fight Kaden Fight, 1515 Holcombe Blvd. (2026)

10/02/2024

2 years ago yesterday was the Stem Cell Transplant that gave Kade his life back. He has his 2 year appointment at MD Anderson on Monday. Things are still moving along, albeit slowly, but he’s here & that’s what matters most 🧡

15/09/2023

2 years ago today, our lives changed forever. It’s like my mind/body knew, because I woke up with the first migraine I’ve had in months. Today we will celebrate the fight in Kade to get to this point!

18/08/2023

18 month post-transplant appointment was on Monday (8/14) in Houston. This consisted of a bone marrow aspiration, labs (12 vials of blood!), and a pulmonary function test to check the status of the graft vs host disease in his lungs.

All of his labs & bone marrow came back normal/clear, so he is still in remission! His pulmonary test showed to be about the same as when he was there in June, so they believe he has plateaued & may never regain 100% lung function. But he feels good & looks good, so they will consider adjusting his meds at his next appointment in November.

💥BEST NEWS THIS WEEK💥
Kaden started back to school at Tulsa Technology Center to complete the Animation II program, that he had to withdraw from when he got sick. 2 years later, he’s back to school AND drove himself for the first time (after a lot of practice!) today. We could not be more proud & excited for him. Finally some sense of normalcy.

I try to post when there’s actual news to report. No news is good news! I’ll try to do better with updates. As always, we truly appreciate the love, prayers & support we have received over the past 2 years. We are still in a journey, just a different part now. Hopefully at some point, each milestone that we pass will make us a little less anxious for the next. Not sure if that ever goes away, but for now we choose to live in the present and just stress on the days the test results come back. 🤷🏼‍♀️

25/12/2022

It’s been a few months, but we’ve had a bit of a roller coaster so was waiting to see when we’d be back on track, to update.

On Halloween, at Kade’s appointment in OKC, his labs had gotten to a point where there was concern & talk that his cancer may have returned. Talk about devastating!! I cried the entire drive back from the city. I just can’t fathom going through all of this again. Kade was already saying he wasn’t going to do that again (go to Houston & live there for months) & so we just felt that overwhelming grief again about “how are we going to get through this?”

Appointments were immediately made & the guys left for Houston within a couple of days. More labs and a bone marrow test was done to determine if cancer cells were present. We had to wait until the following week, but thankfully there was no cancer present in the bone marrow!! Literal tears of joy & relief! We could breathe again. it was determined that the medication they gave him for the graft vs host disease that he has in his lungs (which he is still fighting), was causing the drop in the numbers. Once we removed that drug, his numbers have been back to normal.

We are still dealing with the lung issue. His last pulmonary function test showed he’s at 66% function, which is around the same level as last time. Doctor said this could be where it levels out & where it may stay. I guess this is where I can be thankful he’s not very active or athletic? Trying to look for positives, but it is what it is.

Another issue he currently has is tremors. And I don’t mean small little shakes here & there. I’m talking full body shakes, where you can feel the couch moving if he’s sitting on the same piece of furniture. Parkinson’s-type tremors. Doctor says it’s from a couple of the medications he’s on & should go away once those are stopped. He says he doesn’t notice them, but I see people staring when we are out. But if he doesn’t notice them & they aren’t affecting his day to day, then that makes it a little better to handle (for me).

Positives - he’s eating like a horse!! Any of you that know us or Kade, know he’s never been an eater. He’s still super picky, but we’ve finally moved off the kid menu 😂😂 (yes, he has still ordered from a kid menu at 20 years old!) & he eats 3+ full meals a day! He’s at around 135 pounds, the heaviest he’s ever been & he hasn’t taken any ADHD meds for about a year. So, proud of that for him & hope the eating continues, even when he’s off the steroids.

We were able to take a quick trip to Orange Beach, Alabama for a wedding & he was able to go with us. He had a doctors appointment in Houston right after that, so it was a quick family trip before the holiday! Enjoy the latest pictures from us.

Merry Christmas to all of you & thank you for your continued thoughts & prayers! ❤️❤️

11/10/2022

It’s been awhile since our last post, but thought our friends needed an update as to where we are currently.

Kade has been fighting a lung issue since his August (6 month post transplant) appointment. When he was released in May, he had a Pulmonary Function Test done & it read 100%. Well when they did that same test in August, it showed 38%! Mind you, he has shown no symptoms of a problem. No shortness of breath, a few issues of chest pain & soreness, of which he was taken to the doctor immediately & chest x-rays were done & showed nothing was wrong. So getting this news was shocking & scary.

Thus began the numerous travels back & forth to Houston to figure out what was happening. Test after test was ran, still no conclusive answers have been given. More than likely, it is graft bs host disease in his lungs. But there’s a piece of what’s happening that’s presenting itself in this infection that doesn’t present like GVHD, so they aren’t sure that’s exactly what it is. So he’s been on a treatment as if it’s GVHD.

GVHD is basically when the donor cells are attacking the cells of the host, or in this case, his lungs. So he’s been on steroids for several weeks & it got better & then went into a standstill. So now we are on a different drug & the last Pulmonary Function Test (on 10/10) showed his lungs at 68%. So we are moving back up, slowly.

It’s been a long couple of months. The guys have been going to Houston, every 2 weeks & staying anywhere from 1-3 nights. Kade has been poked & prodded. He’s swollen from the steroids, but is also eating like we’ve never seen before (small blessing!) & weighed in at an all-time high this week at 119 pounds!

So keep the prayers coming that this gets fixed. As those of you who have experienced a long-term illness know, there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight & most days you just feel helpless & hopeless. We thought we could get back to “normal”, but not sure that’s true. Always something to be scared about.

Enjoy our most recent pictures - taken less than a month apart. Definitely looking like the Withem side more & more!

15/09/2022

1 Year. It’s been 365 days since our lives were changed forever.

I’ve posted a lot about what’s happened since that day, but not so much about the day we found out & how awful it was for us. Most of you that have to deal with something like this know how devastating news like this is & how that day is forever etched into your brain.

I had come home from softball practice, it was around 4:30 or so & had so much to do because it was senior night the next night for Kami & I still had her poster to do (I tend to procrastinate). I walk in & Darrell is on the phone in our bathroom & I can tell he is upset, but I’m thinking it’s about him or his parents or something has happened at work. I’ve only seen this look one other time, when his brother passed away. So I knew something bad was going on & my heart immediately dropped. I whispered to him, what is it?? He just threw his hand up & said it’s him (pointing to the living room where Kade was sitting on the couch). I instantly start crying & just hugged him. He finished the call & told me it was the doctor & they think he has leukemia.

Never, in a million years, did I think this would be our life. I knew he was sick with something, but we thought Covid, maybe anemic (he’d been telling us he was anemic for a bit, it had become a joke around the house), but CANCER? My 19 year old has cancer? I sat in the bathroom & cried for the longest time, trying to pull myself together & we tried to figure out how we were going to tell him, Kami & then everyone else.

So I still had this poster to make, which every time I see a picture, I start crying again. Kami comes home, she knows something is wrong. I tell her it’s just because I’m sad it’s senior night (literally not even processing that fact at this point) & still just overwhelmed with everything. We decide we are going to wait & tell them because he has another test the next day to confirm the news with oncologist.

An hour or so later, we are all sitting in the living room & I look at Darrell & I just say, I can’t do this. They need to know. If any of you know our family very well, you know we tell our kids everything. We have no secrets. They know everything about us & vice versa. So sitting there, pretending everything was normal was making me sick.

I turn to Kade & I tell him, we got your test results back & it isn’t good news. He immediately gets upset & says, “do I have Covid??” Well in this moment, I choose to laugh, because I’d honestly have given anything for him to have had Covid! So I’m crying/laughing & then I have to tell him, no it’s not Covid, you have leukemia. Trying to explain what leukemia is, when I didn’t really know at the time, was more than difficult. We all are crying & upset, but there was a little relief in knowing that they knew. One hurdle down. That night I just wanted to be close to him & asked if he wanted to sleep with us & he told me no because he didn’t want us to catch it. 😭

We decided we weren’t going to tell anyone else (our parents) until after the senior night game, because we didn’t want them upset at the game & talking about & taking that focus away from the seniors that night.

I called my friend Mandi Noonkester Everett on my way to work that morning to give her the news & we cried together. I then went & found my work bestie, Lori Ward Heard & told her & asked her to come with me to tell our principal. He was amazing & then I asked him to get Wes Coleman because he is going through this with his son & his words honestly saved me that day. They all said to take care of my family & to do what we needed to do & not worry about school. I left that day & didn’t return until August 1.

That night, September 15, knowing we had to tell our parents the news, my brave daughter pitched a full softball game. She couldn’t lean on her teammates because she didn’t want them to know what was going on. That was her decision. Her courage over the last year & what she had to do, still amazes me. My entire family amazes me.

Although it has been the hardest year of our lives, and the journey will probably never be over, there were & continue to be many blessings that have come from it. It’s been a year, but also seems like a lifetime & yesterday, all at once. If you’ve been there, I’m sorry. If you haven’t, you are lucky.

Thank you all for EVERYTHING over the past year - we love you all! 🧡🧡🧡🧡

27/08/2022

6 MONTHS POST TRANSPLANT

On August 15 & 16, Kade had his 6 month post transplant appointment in Houston. They did several tests to see how everything is progressing & for the most part, we received good news.

We received a call as soon as the guys returned from Houston, that his Pulmonary Function Test (PFT) showed cause for concern & they needed to return in the next day. His PFT in May showed his lungs functioning at 100% & this PFT showed 28%! He has not shown any signs of stress, aside from a few times where he has complained of side/rib/chest pain & then he will have shortness of breath & we have taken him to his doctors in Oklahoma & they’ve done chest X-rays & they’ve all come back clear & normal.

So, after the return appointment later in the week & additional testing, we still have no definitive answers. Doctors are leaning towards GVHD (graft vs host disease) in his lungs, which would be treated with medicine (steroids), so they’ve put him on that course of treatment for now. He goes back on the 30th for additional testing & a possible lung biopsy to be sent to the Mayo Clinic for testing. He will also see a thoracic surgeon on Thursday for that surgery, as it is pretty invasive.

So, this is our latest update. It’s hard to describe all of this when people ask, “how is Kade?”. He’s fine, but he’s really not, yet. He’s alive & that’s what matters most, but still a long road to recovery. Not sure his poor body will ever be the same. But, he’s got some beautiful curly hair now (that he hates 😂) & he was recently knighted on his way to Houston. So we will continue to find bright spots where we can!

And we move sister to college today! It’s been a crazy last few weeks for our family!

17/06/2022

4 Months Post Transplant Follow-Up

Kade & I spent most of the week in Houston, attending his first set of follow up appointments since being released. He had a Covid test, several blood tests/labs, bone marrow aspiration & biopsy, and a visit with his doctor.

Dehydration continues to be an issue….getting him to drink water is a constant struggle. He might’ve learned a hard lesson though because they had trouble finding a vein to draw blood, so they went to 3 different spots before getting a good vein. Maybe he will learn now the importance of drinking water. Stubborn man child!!

The quick labs/numbers looked good & the doctor was pleased enough with his progress that we don’t have to come back until August. He is also able to move to labs every 2 weeks, instead of every week.

The biopsy & other more in-depth tests will not be back for several weeks. We are hopeful they will continue to show no growth of cells & no signs of cancer & that he remains in remission. He will have another bone marrow aspiration & biopsy in August as well. I’m sure this will be standard for follow up appointments moving forward.

The last few pictures needed to be added….we had sister’s graduation party the day before we left for Houston. We had the most wonderful surprise. The first daycare our kids attended in Grain Valley, MO was Duncan Academy & owned by Ali Gillette. She has the biggest heart of anyone I know & she took the BEST care of both kids, but especially Kade. It has been probably over 13 years since we saw them & they showed up at our door on Sunday. I have not seen Kade so happy in so long. It was an amazing day for so many reasons, but this made it extra special for all of us!

21/05/2022

Stem Cell Transplant: Day +100🎉

He (we) made it!! Day 100 is here!! On Wednesday, Kade was officially discharged from MD Anderson & released to a Tulsa oncologist & we moved back to Bixby! What a long 8 months it has been for everyone….

Some updates: We are still waiting for a number to increase in his blood work & until that does, he will have to go back for a monthly test. He is experiencing some random swelling in some joints (the knee a few months ago, and now an elbow), so we will follow up with the orthopedic dr at our next monthly visit. We went through a survivorship class & went over all of the things he is restricted from doing for the next year or so. Just a new normal that our family will have to get use too. Best news I heard was that he is currently in COMPLETE REMISSION!

I didn’t get a picture on Wednesday. Kade’s emotions were all over the place & honestly, he was being a bit of a jerk & wouldn’t take any. I wanted to get one with the ladies in the lab that love him & his doctor, but he was not having it. Those of you that know Kade well, will not be surprised by this, but it definitely ruined what was supposed to be a pretty happy day for me & his dad. BUT, here are some from the week he was home & where he was in a good mood because he was in his happy place.

So thank you to everyone for EVERYTHING that you have done for our family over the last 8 months. It has not gone unnoticed & has definitely been felt deeply by our entire family. I will still post here occasionally, because our fight isn’t over. But know we love you all & could not have gotten through this horrible time without your support & love. ❤️

Darrell, Heather, Kade & Kami

02/05/2022

SCT: Day +82

Things are still chugging along!! Kade & I have come to the mutual agreement that we dislike Houston very much!!!! (His is more the hospital due to his situation, mine is more the traffic and just people here in general…I LOVE THE HOSPITAL and STAFF, they saved my boys life)

So last Wednesday (April 27) we got our monthly engraftment results. The results showed a successful engraftment and that 100% of Kade’s myeloid cells match Kami’s cells; however,his T-Cell number had dropped from 48% in March to 32% on this test. Obviously this number is/was not going in the right direction and there was talk of having to do DLI (Donor Lymphoid Infusion).….basically another infusion of Kami’s cells. Kade’s Dr. was worried that with this number, Kade was possibly at higher risk to possible relapse. After a meeting with the clinical trial team, it was decided that no DLI would be needed at this time as there has been other cases in which T-cells have dropped with no signs of relapse and the T-cells eventually came back up. (The T-cells are what help body fight infection and cancer).

Prior to the April 11th test, Kade was taking 3 Tacrolimus pills. These pills are an immune suppressant pill that is used to help his body accept the cells from the transplant and suppress whatever cells of his he had left so they would try to fight the new cells. On April 11th, the Dr. moved him down to 1 Tacrolimus pill/daily (this was without knowing the recent results). Now with the results, the Dr. has moved Kade to one Tacrolimus pill every other day. Hopefully at his next test, which should be this Wednesday, his T-cell number will be back up since it’s been almost one month of a lesser Tacrolimus dose than the previous test.

Other than that, Kade will have a bone marrow aspiration in May 9th and then him & I will sneak home for the week on the 10th so we can celebrate Kami’s high school graduation before coming back down to Houston for hopefully our last full week of Houston living as we are still on track to come back to God’s Country on May 20th!!!! Thank you everyone for the continued prayers and texts!! I don’t think Kade would have done as well if it wasn’t for all the prayers from everyone. God is good!!!!

20/04/2022

SCT: Day +70

Well we are officially 30 days from Day 100!!!! Kade is still rocking this stem cell transplant and still having good numbers at every appointment.

On Saturday April 16….we sent Mom home to be with Kami for the last month of her HS Senior Year. Kami was needing her Mom for this last busy month of her HS career and I’m thankful that Heather can be there for her. Though Kade & I were sad, this has been a good bonding time for us.

Kade & I have been getting out for walks (which aid in his recovery), but today we had to get out and away from the apartment for our sanity (more mine than his!!!!). I surprised Kade with a trip to CiderCade Houston….this is basically giant arcade of games (both new & old) that you can play unlimited for $10/day. Needless to say, WE HAD A GREAT TIME!!! So much that Kade said someone needs to open a place like this in Tulsa. Here are a few pics of our adventure (Kade was not happy that I made him wear gloves, but we’ve came to far to let some germs derail us from our goal of getting home around Day 100).

Nothing new to report other than we are waiting on a lab result that will show how much of Kami’s DNA is now Kade’s DNA (should get the results within the next day or so….previous results from Day 30ish was 99% DNA & Myeloid Cells match of Kami’s and 48% T-Cells match of Kami’s).

15/04/2022

SCT: Day +64

Decided to take a short/quick lunch trip to Galveston today. Ate some seafood at Fisherman’s Wharf on the water, shopped a little at The Strand district & best of all, got out of the apartment for a bit! Kade has been wanting to go & get in the water, but the doctors said no to that, so we got as close as we could without getting in. Hopefully soon!

Haven’t posted in awhile….just been feeling kinda 🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️. 85-90% of the time, Kade is good. Good is relative & means no pain, vomiting, headaches, tremors/shaking & not fighting to eat & drink. That other 10-15% is when we experience the symptoms mentioned above.

About a 2 weeks ago, something different & a little scary happened. Kade was complaining of knee pain & was hobbling around. This was concerning because this was one of the first signs he was sick. As he was wearing shorts, I noticed how swollen it was compared to the other. At his appointment on that Monday, they decided to send us to their ER, so we could be treated immediately. They were concerned about infection, staph, a blood clot or just random fluid. After 10 hours & an ultrasound, CT scan, blood work, & exams by multiple doctors, it was determined to be just fluid & they decided to drain it & send it for testing. The last 2 pictures are of the swollen knee & what they took out. The fluid is actually a normal color (according to the ortho doctor) & would look like chocolate milk if it was bad 🤮. But, it was all ok, no infection, just a random collection of fluid that can happen after transplant.

So, we still are doing ok. Waiting on May 20 for him to be released. Released from Houston, but will likely be starting maintenance therapy before that, which will continue for 2 years.

Fight Kaden Fight

10/02/2024

15/09/2023

18/08/2023

25/12/2022

11/10/2022

15/09/2022

27/08/2022

17/06/2022

21/05/2022

02/05/2022

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15/04/2022

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