From August 2000 to September 2001 Alex was in remission and off treatment, so Affiliates for Alex became an afterthought. We began to feel confident that things were going to be okay, but that's when we got blindsided again. In July of 2001 Alex began to have problems with her right eye swelling shut. At first the doctors thought it was a sty, but when it didn't go away after two months a CT scan was scheduled. On September 12, 2001 the CT scan revealed that Alex had a tumor behind her eye. Two days later it was confirmed that it was a Leukemic tumor and that there were also Leukemia cells in her Central Nervous System (CNS). The Leukemia was back for a third time. Over the next 18 months we were hit with a series of other misfortunes including:

• The near collapse of my business after the 9/11 attacks. I run a web design business that worked on several local and state government projects. The majority of these projects were canceled in the days after 9/11.
   
• Alex relapsing four more times with her remission time decreasing each time. These relapses and subsequent treatments resulted in several long term hospital stays. (Note: You may notice that Alex had hair during this time. Alex was treated with Mylotarg, a targeted chemo, which doesn't result in hair loss)
   
• The 14-week premature birth of our son Nicholas (he was 13" long and 1 lb, 9 oz) on 12/13/02 (Friday the 13th if you can believe it!)
   
• Andrea developing a serious staph infection, after Nicholas' birth, that left her near death in the ICU at Tacoma General, while Nicholas was in the NICU at the same hospital, and Alex was in-patient at Children's Seattle.

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Photo Gallery

September 2001 to November 2002
 

Nick - December 2002

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