Mission Viejo Third-Grader Fights Back Against 2nd Round Of Leukemia
MISSION VIEJO (CBSLA.com) — Thousands will walk, run and ride this weekend to help raise money for pediatric cancer research to benefit boys just like Mission Viejo third-grader Gavin Rowe.
Gavin, now 9, was only 4 when he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia on New Year's Day in 2010. Gavin was able to go to school, swim and play baseball, even as he went through eight months of intensive chemotherapy and almost three years of maintenance chemo.
But in November of last year, Gavin began having headaches and double vision. His oncologist, Van Huynh, admitted the boy to the Children's Hospital Orange County to run a series of tests.
The bad news is tests showed Gavin's leukemia had come back and is now in his bone marrow and central nervous system. The good news is the cancer is responding well to a standardized protocol of treatment.
"You think it's very rare until it happens to you and you're part of the cancer community, and you see, oh my, goodness, this is not a rare thing," Gavin's mother Kim said. "It's an average of one kid every elementary school and two kids every high school."
Gavin has missed most of third grade and can't play baseball because of a catheter in his chest. He avoids crowds of children because he says he doesn't want to catch their germs and end up back in the hospital.
However, Gavin remains a popular child. A team of more than 50 people will walk and run for Team Gavin at the 17th annual Reaching for the Cure event.
For more information about the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation, click here.
