Meet Braxton: a happy, Moana-loving, two-and-a-half-year-old dancer. Braxton loves to dance with the staff at the hospital and watch Frozen and Moana.
In February of this year, he was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome, a blood disorder similar to acute myeloid leukemia.
A few days before his diagnosis, Braxton’s mom, Jennifer, noticed he had an abnormal rash. Because Braxton had down syndrome and that can lead to a higher risk of blood disorders, she knew she should take him in. A couple days later, they found out what the diagnosis was.
With Braxton being so little, he doesn’t really understand that he has cancer. However, he does know what the hard things are.
For example, he knows what will happen when they walk into a treatment room. Since Braxton cannot speak, he uses some sign language to communicate.
Little Braxton has a very strong support system. His older sister, Tatiana, and him are BFFs. Now that more than one visitor is allowed in the hospital with Braxton post-covid, she comes along to everything. Even the community has come together to support him; they threw a parade for him to wish him well on his first round of chemotherapy back in February.
Braxton is currently on his fourth of six rounds of chemo… half-way done! As he finishes up his treatments, I’d like to encourage us all to pray for his health and happiness, that he’ll continue to have dance parties and smile and laugh his way through everything.
If you’d like to follow along with his journey, his mom’s Instagram is @braxton_strong. Also, to show support for Braxton, you could even throw your own dance party this week! Post a picture of you and your children or your friends dancing and use the hashtag #dancingwithbraxton.
Written by,
Lexi M