When Christopher Melkonian’s parents learned why their two-year-old son needed to have an inline catheter inserted into his chest, their distress turned into relief. A central line, known as a broviac, is typically used to administer chemotherapy. Christopher simply had a bone infection, his doctors told his parents, Darlene and Dave. A spider bite on Christopher’s toe had oddly developed into a bone infection. Thankfully, Christopher didn’t have cancer.
For five weeks, Christopher was treated four times a day with antibiotics for his toe infection.
“Getting a two-year old to sit still for 40 minutes for an IV drip was not easy!” Darlene recalled.
After Christopher’s bone infection had been treated, the Melkonians said farewell happily to Christopher’s inline catheter. Sadly, however, the broviac would be reintroduced to Christopher and his family four years later.
In October, 2002, Christopher came home from school one day with a low-grade fever and a swollen wrist. His parents also noticed that Christopher had an infected bug bite. Sensitive to Christopher’s response to bug bites in the past, Darlene and Dave brought their son to see a doctor. His blood work came back normal, and the Melkonians were sent home. The swelling immediately dissipated, and a week went by without any other abnormalities.
A few days before Christopher’s sister’s birthday, the Melkonians took a trip to Baltimore to watch the MISL Baltimore Blast play. Christopher and his sisters, Samantha and Melissa, were very excited. During the indoor soccer game though, Christopher wasn’t feeling so great. He had developed another low-grade fever and was experiencing floating pain throughout various parts of his body.
The following morning, one of Christopher’s hands was swollen, and in the midst of planning Samantha’s birthday party, Darlene and Dave brought Christopher to the pediatrician. The Melkonians were immediately sent to Children’s Hospital where doctors were convinced that Christopher had diabetes. They went home that night to await the results of Christopher’s blood work. On October 8, 2002, Christopher was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL) and admitted to the hospital without delay.
Thankfully, Christopher’s central nervous system had not been invaded by the leukemia, but his white blood count was dangerously high, and 82% of these cells were ‘blast cells.’ Leukemia cells are abnormal lymphocytes, called lymphoblast cells. These cancerous cells are immature white blood cells that are rapidly produced, crowding out healthy blood cells. As a twist of fate, Christopher’s body began producing these abnormal ‘blast cells’ roughly around the time he and his family watched Baltimore Blast play. Darlene recollected there couldn’t have been a stranger coincidence.
On October 9, the Melkonians forlornly spent Samantha’s birthday in the hospital where doctors began treating Christopher’s cancer immediately. A spinal tap and a bone marrow aspiration procedure that day were just the beginning of Christopher’s 38-month treatment plan. He would have a long journey ahead of him, consisting of periodic spinal taps, chemotherapy shots in his leg and numerous pills to be taken on a daily basis. The sense of disbelief was even more profound as Darlene and Dave waited for the second inline catheter to be placed in their son’s chest on their daughter’s birthday.
At first, Christopher was remarkably very quiet upon learning about his cancer. For the first few weeks of his treatment, Christopher felt incredibly sick and lethargic. When he did have enough energy to react to his condition, Christopher expressed distress at the prospect of losing his hair. Darlene was surprised that, in the face of Christopher’s intensive regimen of chemotherapy treatments and medications, her son was most concerned about hair loss. However, after eight months of chemotherapy, Christopher awoke one morning to discover he had lost all of his hair.
“Mom,” Christopher exclaimed, “I think I look pretty cool!”
Being Strong
In the hospital, Darlene said proudly Christopher was always a trooper. Doctors were stunned by how well he reacted to the painful spinal tap procedures. In fact, Christopher’s doctors and nurses bestowed upon him the “No. 1 Spinal Tap Patient” award.
Christopher had 25 spinal taps within the first ten months of his treatment plan. While Christopher cruised through each spinal tap, Darlene, on the other hand, cringed and had trouble holding back the tears. For Christopher’s first ten spinal taps, Darlene admitted she was hysterical. The horrific reality of your child’s condition is right there in front of you, Darlene explained.
At first, helplessly watching such an agonizing procedure was too much for her to bare, but when it was time for Christopher’s 11th spinal tap, Darlene successfully choked back her tears and continued to restrain her emotions.
“The easiest thing to do would be to curl up in the corner and cry,” Darlene shared, “but I have three children, and the show must go on.”
Life does go on
In fact, life goes on for everyone in the Melkonian family with a fair amount of normality. Melissa, Christopher’s three-year-old sister, carries her grandmother’s handbag around the house and pretends to go shopping, and Samantha, Christopher’s nine-year-old sister, is busy with school, friends, and many extracurricular activities.
Samantha acknowledges that Christopher gets a lot of attention from Darlene and Dave, but she manages to resist feeling resentful. Melissa is still too young to completely understand Christopher’s condition. Darlene warmly remembers one time that Melissa told her mother that the dressing of her central line needed to be changed.
“One broviac is enough, thank you!” Darlene laughed.
Despite the vulnerability of Christopher’s central line, Darlene and Dave let Christopher do what he wants to do basically. Although Christopher can’t swim in ponds, lakes or oceans because of the risk of infection, he regularly swims in pools. Every time Christopher goes swimming, the dressing of the broviac must be changed. Continuously changing the dressings can begin to hurt after a while, but Christopher refuses to sit by the side of the pool. He says it’s too hot outside, and the pool is too much fun!
The length of the exposed part of Christopher’s broviac is six inches long. It is looped around his chest and hangs down slightly. One of the first times Christopher went swimming after his broviac was inserted, he was shirtless, and a child approached him, wide-eyed and staring at the central line. “Do you want to know what this is?” Christopher gently asked, pointing at his own chest. There was a moment of hesitation, and then the child bellowed, “No!” as he ran in the opposite direction.
Now Christopher wears a T-shirt when he goes swimming and enjoys every minute of his time at the pool.
Mostly, Christopher continues to enjoy all of his favorite hobbies despite his condition and the limitations of his central line. Christopher is a video game fanatic, Darlene claims. In fact, sometimes his mother finds herself worrying more about limiting Christopher’s time in front of the television as opposed to curtailing activities because of his leukemia. Christopher also loves to ride his bicycle and play baseball and soccer.
Game time
Christopher was diagnosed with ALL at the beginning of the fall soccer season. Fortunately, he only had to sit on the sidelines during two games due to his own inadequate blood count and rain cancellations. Christopher has been loving to play defense, and one of his favorite parts of the game was being able to outrun an opponent and strip the ball away from him.
Luckily, Christopher’s blood count was sufficient toward the end of the season, and he was able to play in his team’s last three games. He fought hard despite the negative effects of his chemotherapy treatments and his unavoidable weight gain as a result of the steroids.
During one of these games, Christopher scored a goal and erupted with excitement to Dave and Darlene on the sidelines, “I scored my first cancer goal!”
His parents were thrilled, but Darlene couldn’t help feeling a strong pang in her heart, knowing what a struggle it had been for Christopher to achieve that single goal. If only Christopher knew how many cancer goals he had already scored, other parents on the sidelines said to Darlene and Dave.
Time for school
One of Christopher’s most difficult challenges since his diagnosis was getting up the courage to return to school. He missed six weeks of school after he began treatment, but Children’s Hospital has been determined to return young patients to the classroom as soon as possible. Nurses from the hospital visited Christopher’s school to discuss the effects of leukemia and to show a video about blood-related cancers to Christopher’s classmates.
Christopher was worried about his friends’ reactions to his illness and his appearance. He was also aware of the critical state of his immune system, and Christopher feared germs and the risk of infection at school. Ultimately, he swallowed his fears and bravely returned to school. After his first day back, Christopher declared, “I’m so glad to be back!”
“Educating others about cancer is essential,” Darlene related.
The distribution of information concerning leukemia has been improving the lives of those already suffering from cancer and has been sustaining the search to find a cure. Although the thought of a possible relapse of Christopher’s leukemia has been a constant concern for his parents, the truly heartbreaking feelings of their son’s cancer have been subdued with the continuous help and support of doctors, family, friends and the Leukemia Society.
For the first few weeks after Christopher’s diagnosis, Darlene couldn’t bring herself to look at the materials sent to her from the Leukemia Society. Finally when she began looking though the packet of information, she grew more and more confident that Christopher’s cancer was something that could be beat. Darlene signed herself up eagerly to be a committee member for the Leukemia Society’s fundraiser event, Light the Night Walk, in Montgomery County on October 18, 2003.
“It would be easy to wrap yourself in a cocoon of your sorrows,” Darlene said candidly, “but soon you realize you want to get involved. You have to get involved.”
Christopher’s body has continued to fight its own battle against cancer, and he and his family have been determined to educate people about the effects of leukemia. Being active and educating others have been fundamental weapons in the fight against cancer.
A bright future
Doctors have declared Christopher in remission after two weeks of treatment, but he remains in intensive chemotherapy treatment. By Christmas, Christopher hopes to reach the maintenance phase of his treatment.
As of now, the Melkonians are most cautious about a recent flare-up of chicken pox among his friends that could seriously compromise Christopher’s fragile immune system. Christopher continues to play soccer, ride his bike, and he remains devoted to his video games. Essentially, Christopher does what he wants while responsibly minding the delicate nature of his broviac. And, of course, whenever he goes outside he never forgets bug spray!
