The Kyle Wood Story

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Kyle’s journey started in July 1999. It was just a normal day spending time with family at the Summer Slide horseshow. Kyle and his brother Jake, were playing with their trucks in the dirt and watching the tractor drag the arena. Kyle said he had a sore throat and was tired. We thought to keep an eye out for strep and take him to the Doctor the next day. Later that night, Kyle woke up and did not feel well. He had a sore throat and there was a rash on his arms. We took him to the ER where they drew blood and did a strep test. One can imagine the shock and surprise (mostly shock) when the physician walked in the room and without emotion, proclaimed to take Kyle to Children’s Hospital, he has leukemia. After receiving the shocking news, Beth (Kyle's mother), raced to Children’s Hospital, hoping and praying they would tell her he was misdiagnosed. Roger (Kyle's father), was unable to be there until later that morning when we were able to get Jake to a family member.

There were many tests and doctors in Kyle’s room for the next few days. Kyle turned 6 in the Hospital just a few short days after his diagnosis. His favorite meal was a McDonalds Big N Tasty burger, but was restricted to the hospital cafeteria, where we made do and got him a hospital burger and fries. He remained in great spirits and handled all that was happening with amazing courage and positivity. Kyle was given an 80% survival, and we were grateful for that news. 

It was incredibly hard to see any child, let alone our own, go through chemo radiation and constant pokes and prods. We were determined to get him through this as a family, including Jake who was only 8 at the time. This was our focus. Kyle had some set backs early in treatment. He had a blood clot in his arm and they put him on a blood thinner. This took a traumatic turn when he started to bleed out. He was put in ICU and on a ventilator. He had multiple transfusions and right when we thought we would lose him, being the fighter Kyle was, he turned a corner. Kyle was on the vent and Jake insisted he wanted to see him. We allowed Jake to go in the room, but warned him what his brother looked like on a vent. Jake was amazing, as he put on one of Kyle's favorite movies, A Night at the Roxbury. Ourselves and the staff all thought Kyle was knocked out and couldn’t hear anything, but he started shaking his head to the movie. Then, Jake jumped on Kyle's bed and they played Pokémon. The joy of seeing our boys together, even in that difficult state, brought tears not only to our eye's, but to everyone in the room as well. 

Kyle was then diagnosed with a rare form of ALL (Acute lymphoblastic leukemia). It was ALL with the Philadelphia Chromosome. This changed his survival to 10%. We were devastated and could not believe this to be true. So mad in fact, we fired the Doctor that gave us that news. We needed HOPE. We then turned to an amazing Doctor that gave us just that. It was Dr. Odom, and she provided us what we needed. She was encouraging and did her best to let us give Kyle some normalcy during his treatment. We were able to take him home and do treatments out patient at the infusion center. Kyle was doing great. We would watch for fevers or any side-effects, but we did our best to treat him like a normal 6 year old.

We were having a family get away at our family cabin in Fort Collins, CO when Kyle spiked a fever. We called the Doctor and was told not to panic, but to get to Children’s Hospital as soon as we could. Well, we must've drove 100 miles an hour to get him there. Kyle had a set back and was admitted. He was going to need a bone marrow transplant. This was a family mission to find him a donor. Our nephew did a blood & tissue drive as an Eagle Scout project and we all jumped in to see if we were a match. At last, we had found one. We were all so hopeful this was Kyle’s answer and he was going to be okay.

Kyle would be hospitalized in the Bone Marrow area, very isolated from the world. He had no immune system since they were prepping him for new Marrow. We had to wear masks and gowns and felt like “the bubble boy." This could have been traumatizing to a young child, but we had some of the best Nurses in the world in Jennifer and Jessica. We love them and consider them family to this day. They helped Kyle find solutions that made him comfortable taking his meds every day, even when he was nauseous. They allowed us to stay in his room with him. They included Jake and even let them play basketball in the hallway. Things were looking up and Kyle got his Transplant on January 3rd, 2000. The transplant went without a hitch. Kyle loved football and his labs were looking great. Kyle got to go home for the day on January 30th, Super Bowl Sunday. It felt so good to be together as a family, in our home, watching football. Little did we know this would be the last time Kyle was home.

Kyle’s Leukemia came back on February 3rd, 2000. We had no other options for Kyle’s survival and chose not to put him through another treatment. He was so tired. Kyle passed peacefully on February 5th, 2000 surrounded by his family, and ironically the OBGYN that delivered him. Kyle was only 6 years old when he died. One might wonder why we spread a message of hope, even after losing our son. It was hope that kept our family together and brought us a sense normalcy through an immensely difficult time. It was hope that kept us strong. It was hope that helped us conquer fear. Engraved on his tombstone is, "Our Little Fighter." Kyle was a warrior and he never stopped fighting. We've made it our mission to continue that fight, for all of the little fighters out there.