All-Star Sage

Sage is a lively, inquisitive little boy who is always asking questions and is especially fascinated with how things work. He loves superheroes, especially Spiderman. His active nature creates a love for hiking, hunting, and fishing in the great outdoors, as well as playing with his little brother. His mom Betsey and dad Forrest both work full-time.

They were never prepared for their four-year-old to be diagnosed with cancer in January of 2022. Four-year old Sage’s symptoms were very random. He started with a continuous cold-like virus with an elevated white blood cell count, then broken blood vessels on his torso and weight loss; finally, leg pain so intense that he was screaming with pain. When Tylenol had no impact at all, Betsey brought Sage back into the pediatrician. Again, they drew blood. The doctor didn’t let on that he suspected leukemia, but he sent them to the ER to see a hematologist for further testing.

At that point cancer never crossed Betsey’s mind although she was concerned enough to tell Forrest to return the piece of equipment he had borrowed to do the garage floor in the house they were buying, and to meet them at the hospital.

“The doctor came in and sat down on a stool which immediately struck me as odd,” said Betsey. “Once she said leukemia I just kind of blacked out. I was in an alternate universe.” Sage was immediately admitted to the hospital and the family was thankful that it was only 30 minutes from home.

His white blood cell count was extremely high and with the impact that had on his body trying to fight the cancer cells, he was marked as high risk. The cancer cells were duplicating so fast that he was given pain medicine for his legs as well as a bone marrow biopsy. For that reason, Forrest and Betsey were told that their little boy had three and a half years of treatment ahead of him.

Sage and Betsey stayed in the hospital for two weeks and Betsey had no choice but to take that time off work. Meanwhile, the family was in the midst of moving. Forrest also took that first week off unpaid. Sage’s little brother went to stay with his grandparents and Betsey’s mom and sister came down to direct the movers so Betsey and Forrest could take care of Sage in the hospital.

As Sage began treatment, his parents explained exactly what would happen and why. A lot of times he didn’t want to do his port access or take his meds. They told him that he was taking this to beat the bad guys, the support helped him get through it.

He responded well to the first round of chemo and the impact was immediate. His leg pain went away as quickly as it had come on, and the following day he was able get up out of bed. After one month, his cancer cells were down to almost nothing and he was officially in remission.

“It was kind of crazy” explained Betsey. “I remember very distinctly, one night in the hospital, my husband and I whispering, I said that I felt that there was a bigger meaning behind this. We were crying and agreed that that better had be the case. We chose to stay in a positive mindset from the beginning. It was the only way to get through this.”

Betsey was fortunate enough to manage to work on her laptop wherever Sage was. Forrest, not so much. He wanted to be there for his son and for Betsey, but he carried the insurance for the family. “I explained that he was serving his family by working,” said Betsey. “But there were times when he just had to be with us, and we took the hit financially. It was a constant dilemma. Every day, I would look out of the window at the hospital at all the people driving to work and think, why us, why are we here?"

One of the first foundations we were connected to was Pinky Swear. The day of diagnosis we received a gift basket in the hospital containing food, games, handwritten cards and other familiar items to help ease the unknown feeling at the hospital. “We had been in the ER for hours and I had no idea when I had last eaten. The little snacks were a godsend. We will never forget how that made us feel, and we recognize the impact that had on all of us during those initial dark days,” said Betsey.

Then the family applied for an Orange Envelope. “The application process is so easy and Pinky Swear was so responsive when I had questions. When your child has cancer, you do not need another stressful thing, you need something simple and that’s what Pinky Swear provided. And, oh, my gosh, when we received the Orange Envelope and read Mitch’s story, it made me cry. I love that story more than anything,” Betsey said.

Most importantly, the family felt relief. “Everything was handwritten, and I gave a little sigh of relief when I saw the gift card. We used that for food,” Betsey said. “We would order something fun or different for Sage to look forward to. His appetite was not good, but because of Pinky Swear we were able to order things that he liked.”

Betsey and Forrest also applied for an All-Star Fund payment to help with the new house they had just bought. “When the mortgage payment came it gave us such a sense of relief. By that time, we were between $10,000 and $15,000 down because of the loss of pay. It allowed time for Forrest to be in the hospital with Sage and for him to go to appointments with a little bit of cushion,” said Betsey. “He was struggling with allowing himself to be ok with not providing everything and at the same time for me, it was exhausting to be the primary caregiver all the time. Because of Pinky Swear we were able to be together more and stress less about money.”

Since September of 2023, Sage has been in the ‘Maintenance Phase’ of treatment and that will continue until he rings the bell in May 2025. Maintenance has involved some hospital stays most recently for a bout of pneumonia, but overall, he is doing well.

Betsey says he struggles most with his mental health. He is in kindergarten and he can see that nobody else has cancer. “Some things in life are not fair and he has the right to be mad,” Betsey said. “We try to manage the risks associated with him having a low immune system against trying to let him do as many normal activities as possible.”

“He is still smart, quick witted, inquisitive, and sweet and continues to enjoy being in nature, building things with dad, snuggling watching movies with mom and wrestling with brother and of course those superheroes!” said Betsey. “We continue to have a positive attitude. What I love is that we have this new extended family of friends, community, foundations such as Pinky Swear and even strangers. They helped us make lemonade out of lemons.”