Colin Laskowski was first diagnosed with Leukemia when he was 19 months old. He had a tough two and a half years of intensive treatment, which included chemotherapy, use of a port, and oral and other medications.
Finally, when Colin was four years old, he finished his treatment and seemed to be on his way to having a normal childhood. Usually, if a leukemia patient relapses, it is within the first year after ending treatment. Colin had been off treatment for over two years when he began to experience pain in his arms and shoulders in the fall of 2002. It came as a total shock to the family when they learned, after several trips to the doctor, that Colin had relapsed. Jan Laskowski, Colin’s mother, talked with USSoccerPlayers.com recently to tell her son’s remarkable story as part of the Time-In program.
“It started in August of 2002 when Colin had a lot of pain in his arms and shoulders. We made several trips to the pediatrician and to the lab for blood draws. He also had a bone scan, and nothing showed up on the bone scan,” explained Jan.
“Finally, at the beginning of September, at a soccer game, Colin could hardly move his arms. After his game, I took him immediately to the pediatrician. The pediatrician sent us to the lab for yet another CBC. On Monday morning the oncology clinic at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin called and told us to bring Colin in as soon as possible. They told us it looked like Colin was relapsing. A bone marrow aspiration and spinal tap confirmed that he had relapsed. We had to decide whether to do a bone marrow transplant or not. Neither of his siblings was a match, which would have been perfect. With the help of our doctors, we decided to go the chemo route instead of a bone marrow transplant.”
The day after Colin relapsed, he had surgery to have a new port-a-cath put in his chest. The port is used to administer many of his chemotherapy drugs. Chemotherapy was started that day. Since Colin had been off of chemo for two years and four months before relapsing, the doctors recommended another two-year cycle of chemotherapy treatments rather than attempting a bone marrow transplant. If he were to relapse again, then a transplant could be necessary. In addition to the weekly chemo treatments, Colin also had to have radiation treatment.
“It’s a much harder treatment this time,” said Jan. “It’s a five-week cycle of different drugs each week. The cycle repeats over and over until we hit 105 weeks (October of 2004). We go to Children’s clinic every Tuesday. Some Tuesdays, he has to stay overnight, and have extended chemo. This is the hardest week when he has to stay overnight. The drug knocks his counts down low, and he usually needs to go in the following week for some platelet transfusions and sometimes a blood transfusion. We’ve got 11 more months to go.”
Colin had the radiation treatment done at the end of October and into November 2002—12 total radiation treatments. In her online journal, Jan noted how Colin was the only child receiving radiation at that time and how inspirational he seemed to be for the other adults receiving radiation.
Jan also remembers how difficult this process was for her and her husband, Clint. They were not allowed to be with Colin in the room while the radiation was occurring, but they could watch him on a monitor and speak with him on a microphone. The doctors only used as much radiation as necessary; as tough as it is to use radiation on anyone, especially a child, it is the only known way to kill certain leukemia cells.
For a little over a year, now, the Laskowski family has been dealing with the reality of Colin’s illness and treatment. The day-to-day can be tough, but the Laskowskis feel blessed to live so close to Children’s Hospital, and to have so many caring friends and family members nearby to help take care of their other children, Kelly, 9 years old, and Emma, 3 years old. Jan says that Colin really is the greatest inspiration to all of them.
“Colin really doesn’t complain at all,” said Jan. “All of these kids, the patients, they know they have to do this, and they do it and don’t complain. He learned how to swallow pills just before his relapse, which was amazing because he takes a lot of oral medicine. He knows he has to fight the bad guys (the leukemia cells). I think he understands in simple terms what is going on—he probably understands more than I give him credit for. I think he knows that he has to do this. It’s one of the things that is hard to talk about, what could happen. He knows he has bad cells, and the medicines are fighting them. But he’s so strong. He amazes me.”
Jan said that Colin really didn’t even mind too much when he lost most of his hair due to chemotherapy treatments. Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin sent a child life specialist to his class at school to talk to the kids about leukemia, about whether it was contagious or not and what Colin had to do when he left school—to help the kids understand that the reasons he was missing school weren’t “fun” reasons.
“The specialist was great,” said Jan. “She showed the kids pictures of different cells, how leukemia knocks out the other cells and how the chemotherapy Colin is getting goes in and fights the leukemia. I thought she did a really good job. How it works is the specialists offer to go to your school to answer questions about what is going on and to let the kids know that the patient is not contagious. For example, one thing she asked was, ‘If Colin sneezes, will you catch leukemia?’ Some of the kids answered yes. It’s important to let them know that this can’t happen. The school has been great. Colin has had no problems fitting in. Colin plays on a soccer team with the boys from his class.”
Colin and his sister Kelly have been playing soccer for a while—and Colin has continued to play throughout his chemotherapy sessions (when he is feeling up to exercise). This season, he’s doing really well and has only missed one game. Other hobbies include skateboarding, basketball, and Legos. He also loves taking apart his toys and making them into new things. Jan says that all of the toys in his room are taken apart! In school, he’s also doing well, thanks to a great teacher who helps him stay up on things when he has to leave class to go to clinic. Colin even wishes that the school day were longer! His favorite subjects are math, gym, and recess (of course).
Jan says that the family has met other families of leukemia patients and that the support groups have helped. They are also subscribed to an on-line support group of parents of kids with leukemia. They have done the ‘Light the Night Walk,’ and Colin was also sponsored by one of the Leukemia Team-In-Training groups, which works to raise money for leukemia-related research.
“When he was first diagnosed, at 19 months, I kept to myself more, pretty much because I always had to be with him (at the hospital),” explained Jan. “Now that he’s older, he runs around on his own more, and we meet more people. It’s a mixed thing… he’s a relapse patient. You don’t want to tell first time cancer patients or their parents that your child has relapsed because that might damage their fighting spirit. It’s such a low percentage of kids that do relapse that I try not to make a big deal of it.”
Jan updates the site weekly with his blood counts, treatment, and little fun facts about what he is up to at the hospital, at school, and on the soccer field. There is also a photo gallery on the site. Jan’s journal is always upbeat and positive. Like her son, she also never complains. Jan stays thankful for her family and friends. The Laskowskis are looking forward to taking a long vacation after Colin’s treatment is completed next fall; they want to head somewhere warm with a beach!
Please check out Colin’s website and his story in Jan’s own words. You can also sign the guestbook and let the Laskowskis know that you’ve heard their story and that you are including them in your prayers.
Good luck, Colin, Jan, Clint, Kelly and Emma!
