Levi's Legion

04/01/2026

March 31, 2026

Y'all. Did you catch Levi on both People AND NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas?!?! Holy cow, what a day! We knew he was going to be on NBC but not until the weekend because we don't have our interview until tomorrow but we were shocked to see Tom Llamas feature him today!

While I'm still pretty salty about the last 2.5 years, it's not lost on me how far Levi's story has traveled and that God is using it for His glory. I knew that would be the case but I definitely have been kicking and screaming most of the time. But man, what a wild experience. I never could have imagined that Levi would be on the NATIONAL stage and the age of 11 but also, this feels very on brand for him 🤣. I guess we should quit calling him Wayne County Famous and now call him Mr. Worldwide 🤣🤣🤣

https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/school-surprises-11-year-old-cancer-survivor-with-clap-out-260474437645?fbclid=IwY2xjawQ5YsdleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAwzNTA2ODU1MzE3MjgAAR7069LONvfl1aTWp0vbc6fsV1ySjC75Plv99i5ksg47S56Fb5k5v1TtlXwWbQ_aem_LQk3t6qfn0jupPVX0C5Qpw

03/29/2026

March 29, 2026

Palm Sunday edition and Levi got the boot! He's still pretty j***y but all the junk is breaking up and his coughing is pretty productive so they were comfortable sending him home with the hope that as he moves around more, he'll continue to clear his lungs. His brothers are anxiously waiting for his return so he can play Mario Kart on the Hot Wheels track with them!

While waiting to get discharge papers, he was out of bed doing his best MJ moves to Thriller so I'd say he's feeling a bit better! 🙈

Over on the homefront, Boyd woke up screaming in the middle of the night from a bad dream and I discovered he was running a fever 🫠. He seems fine this morning but that meant no church for the rest of us so we are keeping the final day of spring break pretty low key.

Thank you for praying for us. Levi's not entirely out of the woods yet and this unfortunately will delay his med port removal a bit but we are thankful he had a relatively quick stay that was pretty uneventful for him. I guess he really did just need a victory lap with some of his favorite people. Thanks, kid. 🙈

03/28/2026

March 28, 2026

Another day, another hospital stay.

Not much to update today. Levi got a boost of IVIG over night and held remarkably steady without respiratory support which is a sigh of relief as this is his first bout of pneumonia since ditching his BiPAP. Branden and I were a little nervous that he would need support but he's gotten so much stronger in just the last couple months alone that he's doing okay. That said, if you've been here a minute, you know Levi likes to dabble in the shenanigans so no one is in a rush to kick him out of ACH so he's there for at least another night. His blood cultures didn't grow anything sinister thankfully so he was able to be moved from IV cephapime to an oral antibiotic to help fight the bacterial part of what's getting him down. Hopefully combined with an immune system boost from IVIG, he should start improving slowly. He also has thrush from the antibiotics he JUST finished and some weird fungal situation on his toes. Go big or go home, kid 🙄

I'm currently staying home with the littles to salvage a tiny bit of what's left of our spring break staycation where we each chose an activity and a meal that we wanted over spring break. We aren't going to get it finished at this point but we promised the kids we'd leave the lists on the wall until we finish them all which they were thankfully gracious about. Unfortunately the littles are no stranger to plans being tentative until we are actually doing them so while they were understandably disappointed, they also understood. The three of us went to our church's annual helicopter egg drop this morning in the freezing snow and plan on staying in to snuggle and watch movies the rest of the day while Levi and Branden continue their "boys weekend" 🤣.

PLEASE continue to pray for Levi's healing and for us to all be home together soon. You may be thinking, wow that's really great Branden was home during this and while you are correct, it IS nice, he's also been home since before Christmas 🙃. I've loved having him here but he's been off work because he ruptured his ear drum at work the week before Christmas and STILL hasn't been able to return to work. His ear drum is healed but it's been a logistical nightmare trying to get his medical license back, insurance handled, correct diagnosis, etc. The aviation industry is a wild place that feels like level 40 of Super Mario Brothers to bounce through. So much red tape, paperwork and appointments 🙄. One day he'll go back again and while we'll miss him terribly (especially me- having two adults in the house every day is AWESOME lol) we also very much need him to work. Mama ain't cut out to go back to corporate IT 🤣🤣🤣

One day at a time.

03/28/2026

March 27, 2026

After the feel good story yesterday, Levi decided it was opposite day and decided to very much NOT feel good. He woke up with a 102.7 temp so Branden immediately rushed him to Akron Children's ER. We had hoped that maybe a round of IV antibiotics would do the trick and it would be a day trip but alas, dude decided to do a victory lap before he gets his med port removed in less than two weeks. We are currently admitted on his beloved hem/onc floor with bacterial pneumonia plus a couple different viruses including his kryptonite, rhino/entero. 🫠

When I came to bring supplies, he told me he is sick and that he's "stuck here" but I'm finding it hard to believe he's really that mad because he definitely said "JACKPOT!" when they told him he was going to the floor 🙄🤦‍♀️

So here we are, post chemo, post bell ringing living the same life we've been living the last 864 days. I'm not sure at what point we will feel like maybe this is behind us but it's certainly not today or anytime soon as we deal with the emotions that surface being back here. Even though Levi is in good spirits, my body feels a sense of heaviness that I didn't realize I hadn't been feeling as much lately. Praise God for therapy.

So please pray for a quick stay and healing. And when we get out of here, we have something VERY exciting to share. Let's just say I got a call today from a NATIONAL news outlet.... 😳

Until then, one day at a time.

03/26/2026

Oh hey, we know him!

Thank you so much to Lindsay Buckingham for featuring the sweetest story about our amazing boy ❤️. We really enjoyed visiting the studio today and getting a chance to share about our village!

Levi Buxman spent more than two years battling acute lymphoblastic leukemia — and his community made sure he knew he was never alone.

03/26/2026

March 26, 2026

Surprise! We just wrapped up filming for Heartstrings with Lindsay Buckingham at WKYC Channel 3 - Cleveland which will actually air TODAY! There will be a brief story at 4 with the full story airing during the 5pm news today! Thank you to everyone who shared Levi's story ❤️

03/23/2026

So if you thought watching Levi's clap out at the school on Friday was tear jerking, take a look at this 🙈😭. Thanks to PTO for capturing this video of Levi ringing the bell in front of the entire school after they played the live stream from his actual bell ringing. I know I keep saying it over and over, but we are so grateful for our school. And parents, many of you should be very proud of your kids and the friendship and respect they show Levi ❤️

03/22/2026

I mean seriously. Our school is the best 💚

03/20/2026

March 20, 2026

And the celebrations continue! Levi's school wanted to celebrate with him and today during their monthly town hall meeting, they invited us to attend and they played the video of his bell ringing from last week and then had him ring a bell in front of the entire school 😭. Then all of the students and staff from the entire elementary school lined the halls and had a clap out. Man, talk about EMOTIONAL. To watch my child with Down syndrome who was absent from school for two years (he's been back this entire school year) be seen and celebrated and LOVED just absolutely brought tears to my eyes. And he felt loved. He has been so excited this week for today - a day where he was celebrated with his peers. And it's obvious that he has friends, including typical friends which is all he ever wants. He LOVES people and definitely comes on strong but to see so many students seek him out for high fives and hugs just made everything feel okay in the world today.

Sometimes when I talk about our school district, I think people think I'm making it up because it sounds like Mayberry. Honestly, when we moved into the district I found it "odd," too. How could there still be a quaint, one stop light town full of genuine people who rally together? A village. How is there a school that sees the students who are different and treats them just like all the others where it matters? Is our village perfect? No place is but man, I am INCREDIBLY grateful for it. Everyone from bus drivers, cafeteria ladies, and school resource officers to teachers, aides, principals, staff from the superintendents office and school board members have rallied with and around us and that's not something that should be taken for granted. Our sweet boy is cared for and seen for who he is...a person.

I'll start with the video of the clap out and then share some more videos and pictures because I keep receiving tons from both today and last Friday and there's so many that deserve to be shared. Also, peep all the Levi shirts and sea of blue- the school went blue for Levi since it's his favorite color 😭❤️

We couldn't have survived the last few years without our village. And man, it's a good one.

It takes a village. You are that village ❤️

03/19/2026

There's also this story Fox 8 did on Levi as well. Seriously, I'm so overwhelmed by all the love ❤️

After a two-and-a-half year struggle battling cancer, that journey ended officially on Friday with one of the most memorable celebrations. Watch here: https://fox8.com/news/watch-local-5th-grader-rings-the-bell-after-cancer-battle/

03/19/2026

I'm finally catching up on everything from over the weekend (the weekend ended...and continues for some of us with sickness 🙄. It's fine, everything is fine). First up, the Beacon Journal did this beautiful article on Levi's Legion. We are so grateful for everyone who showed up to support our family ❤️

03/15/2026

Oh my goodness, we are so humbled and overwhelmed by all the love we were shown on Friday 😭❤️. I'm just now getting a chance to sit and respond to messages, look at pictures and watch videos and man, I'm at a loss for words. I'll share more this week as I digest everything and pull my thoughts together because it's just been a whirlwind! For the moment, I'll leave you with a video of Levi receiving his custom Michael Jackson inspired jacket from Andy Sheppard and Project Outrun right before he rang the bell 😭