All-Star Azel

Four-year-old Azel and his family are very involved in their community. Azel has never met a stranger, and outside of daycare, he happily accompanies his parents to organizational responsibilities. 

In March of 2023, they started noticing that Azel’s face was covered in little red dots. He was sleeping a lot, his stomach was swollen, and he had stomach pains. The doctor ruled out all the illnesses a child could catch, but when the bloodwork came back, it showed low red blood cell counts. Darnell took him to the hospital to get an ultrasound while Abigail was at work as an elementary music teacher. 

The results of the ultrasound indicated it was cancer, they just did not know what type yet.

Abigail rushed over to the hospital and Darnell and Azel met her in the pediatric unit. After that, things moved quickly. Azel was admitted to the PICU, he had a biopsy, and a port was put in. They were all there for several days, where they learned that Azel had T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and that it was high risk because of steroids his doctor had given him to manage his symptoms previously.

“When everything was explained we felt overwhelmed with information. My husband described it as if we had been going at 100 mph when, suddenly, we came to a catastrophic stop. Everything we knew came to a halt. We immediately leaned into our faith in Jesus Christ and the support of our family. The prognosis led us into a position of complete vulnerability and with an 85% survival rate, I wondered if my child would make it through. I had an immense feeling of grief right away,” said Abigail.

Azel was discharged and the family returned home, yet everything felt uncertain and chaotic. The family explained that their home has always been a sanctuary of peace, but now it felt like a place with a lot of obstacles: financial stress, marital challenges, and work burdens included. They had spent so much time apart with nights in the hospital that it caused a lot of stress. At first, Abigail used her FMLA to care for Azel while Darnell worked. But the roles reversed when Darnell lost his job at a non-profit. Now, the family had even more financial worries.

The focus though, remained on Azel’s care as he was faced with a lot of challenges. During the induction phase of his treatment, Azel developed diabetes and gained a lot of weight due to the steroids. “He was unrecognizable,” Abigail said. “He turned from a loving, joyful little boy into a hungry little dinosaur, a T-Rex. He was continually being poked and always hungry.”

During induction phase, there was constant worry of his blood sugar dropping and Azel’s parents were constantly watching them day and night. It was impossible for them to get good sleep. Now, he is no longer diabetic. “He went from one extreme to the other and is now underweight and on an appetite stimulant,” Abigail explained.

Pinky Swear Foundation helped Azel’s family with an Orange Envelope. “After speaking with our social worker I got a list of organizations,” explained Abigail. “I was extremely discouraged that I had to fill out all these applications, but the Pinky Swear application was so easy.” The family was able to spend their gift card at Walmart for groceries.

“It feels like you are in a different community of support,” she went on to say. “We had a tribe of people that supported us, but organizations like Pinky Swear help so that you do not have to ask someone you know. With your organization, we were able to start a new community of cancer organizations and we quickly learned which ones were easy and accessible."

Azel is thriving despite everything. They are grateful that he has not been in the emergency room often as they know some are during cancer treatment. He is a Star Wars fanatic and role-plays Star Wars movies all the time with his mom and dad. 

The family tries not to allow the future to be an obstacle, but they think about relapse and pray that it will not happen. They also pray for the long-term effects of his cancer, but right now, they are focusing on what is next for Azel.

The goal is to financially get through the end of May and into the summer of 2024. Azel has entered the last phase of chemo treatment and maintenance. The family hopes that in the fall of 2024, Azel will be able to go back to daycare. Azel’s “End of Treatment Date" is August 8th, 2025. This family believes in resiliency and adaptability; strengths that matter in this journey.