THE MURPHY’S STORY
In the Fall of 2011, after only one year of existence, IST FTK was honored to be accepted into the Adopt-A-Family Organization. On November 13, 2011, we first met The David Murphy Family, and they quickly became a part of our own.
FTK, FDM!
UPDATE: APRIL 2ND, 2014
“3 years 1 month and 19days. Over 6,000 pills taken, 11 blood transfusions, 21 spinal taps, 3 trips to the emergency room, 3 hospitalizations for a total of 14 days, 61 trips to clinic, and ZERO complains. Our son Dave received his last IV chemo today!
We are so proud of the young man he has become during this ordeal. He was 9 when he was diagnosed with Leukemia on 2/14/11 and in a few weeks he will be 13. What a journey. David has truly been amazing through all of this, he honestly never once complained about having to go to clinic or get stuck with needles or complained when he didn’t feel good, in fact he would never admit he didn’t feel good. Words can not express how proud we are of him. We have met some amazing people along the way, including his doctors and nurses at the Med Center, all the wonderful people we met through Thon and of course our families who supported us through all of this.
There were about 20 people waiting in the lobby when we walked out of clinic today and they let out a cheer for Dave that truly surprised him and brought a tear to my eye. There are some new pictures on here of that moment and the small party we had back at the house.
He will finish up this round of pills which will end on 4/28, one day after his 13th birthday. He will get one more dose of IVIG in 4 weeks to help boost his immunity until his body bounces back from the three years of chemo, then he will need to have his port removed and go back once a month for a quick blood test for the next year or so, they will continue to monitor him for 5 years at which point he will be considered cured!
Thank you to everybody who supported Dave through this journey, some of it was terrible and some it was beautiful. Attending THON and meeting truly wonderful people that exist in this world is something we will all never forget. Sometimes it’s easy to be a cynic but there are good people in life and we should all try to be those people. Thanks for all the comments on this page, please post any comments you would like. I am going to have this whole thing printed and bound. Next month will be the final post.”
Thank you,
The Murphy’s
DAVID’S CARE PAGE
Visit David’s Care Page and send him a message of support and congratulations today!
If you are new to CarePages, follow the David’s Care Page link and click on “New to carepages? Sign Up Today!” to get started with your free account with CarePages at Penn State Hershey Medical Center.
After that you will get e-mails when The Murphys update the page and be in the loop on how David and the family are doing. You can reply right on the website with your kind messages of support!
DAVID’S STORY
“Signs and symptoms were not obvious at first, but it became quite clear that something was wrong. Dave was bruising easy, had no appetite, and was gasping for breath when walking up the steps. These symptoms as well as getting the flu led us to taking Dave to Aspire-Urgent Care, where Doctor Rayner took the time to test his hemoglobin, which was very low. He immediately set up an appointment for Dave to visit Penn State Medical Center. Doctor Bell took over from there and after several tests were performed, Dave was diagnosed with leukemia-ALL, February 2011. This news was a shock to us all, but as we became more and more educated on his condition, we realized that not only was he in good hands, he was going to make it.
Dave is currently in remission and has a less than a year until he will be fully cured. Doctor Bell, Nurses Carol and Melissa, along with Doctor Rayner will always hold a special place in our hearts for saving our Boo Boo’s life. IST, THON, and FOUR DIAMONDS will always and forever be remembered for giving David strength and courage during a tumultuous time.”
-Ed and Donna Murphy