Meet Chase

Every so often, life throws a curve ball your way, and this has happened to a great friend who doesn’t live more than a block away from me.  I would like you all to meet little 2-year-old Chase. Chase’s Mom and Dad, Dani and Ashton are great friends who we love dearly.

On July 22, 2010 two yr old Chase Prince was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (a.k.a. ALL).  Just like any two year old, Chase is happy and full of energy or, as his parents would say, “bouncing off the walls”.  The Sunday before being diagnosed, Dani and Ashton had noticed that Chase was extra tired and was asking for naps.  Also, he was having pain on his left side. Something just wasn’t right..  On Wednesday Dani had a doctor’s appt. and decided to take Chase in with her.  The doctor could feel that his spleen was enlarged and wanted to run some tests.  Dani had the car packed up to head to Bear Lake with family.  They headed up North as planned and as they got nearer to Salt Lake Dani got the call from the Doc.  He said to head to Primary Children’s Hospital so they could run more tests.   It wasn’t long after checking into the ER that they admitted him and started him on an IV.  By the next morning, they knew that Chase had ALL.  They got a bone marrow sample, did a lumbar puncture, put chemotherapy into his CNS and then put in a port.  The beginning of a long road ahead began.

Talk about life being turned upside-down in a three day span. I was able to go visit this cute family while they were in the hospital at Primary Children’s, and all I could do was cry. A few of our mutual friends have set up a website on behalf of Chase, and I am honored to be able to help spread the word about this wonderful cause. Click the image below to check out the site. The site also provides a fund to help with Chase’s medical costs and treatment. No donation is too small.


Dani (Chase’s Mom) puts it best in her own words in an excerpt from her personal blog on July 22, 2010.

Our perfectly healthy little boy has a weekness to all of his super powers. He thinks he is a super hero, but I guess all super heros have an achilles tendon. We have found Chase’s. Starting about Sunday afternoon he just didn’t seem like our normal little ball of fire. He was asking for naps (he is always super good and takes naps well, but what little two year asks for his nap?) Just a little off for him. He also was complaining of something hurting on his left side. This would happen when he was climbing up onto a chair or a bed etc….

He was off just enough that I took him with me to my OB exam on Wed. morning.
We see a family doc so he looked at Chase while we were there. We LOVE Dr. Thompson and are so thankful for the chance we have to be his patients. He knew there was something wrong when he felt his spleen and it was enlarged. He told us to go get some lab work and it would take a couple of hours to get results, but he thought it was something called ITP. Nothing too serious and it has no treatment to it. I had my car all packed up and we were leaving from the Dr. to go straight to my parents in Logan area to then continue on to Bear Lake. We were packed up to stay for two weeks so my mom could help me with the kids (that is because I am an enormous whale at this point and Chase can run faster than I can….side note: I have about 8 weeks left before the new little one comes). So Dr. T said just get on the road and if it comes back abnormal you can go to Primary Children’s. And if it is ITP there is not a lot to do anyway.
So we started our journey that I never in a million years thought would put us where we are today. After about three hours I started to think maybe I should call the Doc to see what was taking so long. I was also in Provo area and thinking I needed to know what was going on because I was getting close to Salt Lake. The medical assistant said he was in an exam room but would call me back when he got out. I was at 5300 S. when he called. He kept me calm and just said they wanted to run some more tests because there were a few things that didn’t point exactly to ITP. We came up to Primary’s and the ER saw him and didn’t hesitate to admit him. At this point no one is telling me anything. It wasn’t until I walked into the unit he would be admitted to that I knew something wasn’t right.

He is now in the ICS. Immuno Compromised unit is where we are. This was not a good sign to me. Finally our awesome nurse last night sat with us and told us everything that was going on. At this point it started to set in that this was not just blood work they were doing. They hooked him up to the IV. It doesn’t slow him down a bit. We have to run behind him with it. We were in the play room and he was going to fast. We told him he needed to slow down so we could stay caught up with the IV and he said, “okay” and if you know Chaser his “okay” is like the cutest thing is the whole world. He then went on to do the slow motion run. Like “Chariots of Fire”. It was great! His sense of humor will never leave (at least I hope….).

So back to the reality of what was going on. I laid awake last night thinking “how did this happen?” It was crazy how it all fell into place like it did. In fact my in-laws went to the temple last night and my father in law sat next to Dr. T. We were packed for a long vaca and have EVERYTHING we could possibly need with us. Ashton was on his way to a golf trip he had been planning since dec. in palm springs. So at this point I had called him and said I think you need to come back. Ben (Ashton’s Bro.) and Chelsea (my soon to be sis in law) were such a HUGE help. They came for moral support and helped out with the kids, who were both so excited to see Ben and Chels because they love them. Abby was in good hands and went to spend the night with Ben. She was so excited for a sleep over with them. My mom made it down here to stay the night with me until Ashton could get here from Cali. We had a good night and couldn’t get Chase to go to bed. Midnight came and went and he was literally bouncing off the walls still. He was not a sick little boy…..”WHY AM I HERE?” was all I kept thinking. I mostly laid awake last night just thinking what is this??? At this point we had no idea, but the nurse was very helpful in letting us know some possibilities.

By morning and after lots of blood draws we had a better idea that it was Leukemia just didn’t know what kind. We now have a diagnosis of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. He went into surgery this afternoon and everything went great. They got a bone marrow sample, did a lumbar puncture and then put chemotherapy into his CNS, then put in a port. A port is a little piece of plastic underneath his skin so we don’t have to clean it or anything. What it is for is direct access to his blood stream. This is used for any IV’s or for his chemotherapy. He is now up and awake and as happy as he could be for the rough day he has had. For the future we will be making MANY trips to SLC. In the next few months it will be once a week. Treatment itself lasts 3 yrs. So anyone want to sell a house in SLC??? I have a feeling it is going to become our second home.

Your prayers have ALL been heard. Even though the leukemia isn’t the best thing to have on our plates everything else has been textbook and he is on the good side of having leukemia (did I just say good and Leukemia in the same sentence?).

Thank you all for all of your love and support. I know that Heavenly Father has been with us from the very beginning and will continue to be with us because of all of your prayers! We love you all and appreciate all that you are doing for us! It is amazing what love and support gets poured out in times of need! I can’t say thanks enough. I know that each and every prayer has been heard and I have felt every one of them too. Love you all!!!
–Dani Prince

Here is a video that was put together on behalf of Chase.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4xhWctp0O8]

I am lucky to know Chase first hand. He is ABSOLUTELY darling. He has the cutest little voice, and he LOVES otter pops. 🙂 He has played at my house a lot, and his sister Abby is one of Oaklyn’s best friends. Have you ever had something like this happen to someone close to you? I have heard the stories…ya know of a friend of a friend…but this one is the closest I’ve ever experienced. I would do anything to help this family.

Do you remember THIS POST and THIS POST, with the little boy’s room pictured below? Yep…this is Chase’s room that I helped Dani with.

Any support you can give to this family means the world to me. Check out his site below.

Published on August 10, 2010

12 thoughts on “Meet Chase”

  1. Im so sorry to hear this. I had a close family member battle cancer for three years. It is not easy… and now that I have kids of my own I cant even IMAGINE going through it with one of them. My heart aches for this cute family, and my thoughts and prayers will be with them.

  2. It is so true when you hear that your whole life can change in an instant. This was definitely their instant. Oh how it saddens me to see a child suffer and I can't imagine the agony that his parents are going through. Our thoughts and prayers are with them as they struggle through this.

  3. This just breaks my heart, and that video- lets just say the tissues are all gone.
    They seem like such a strong loving family & that is what Chase needs more than anything right now, they WILL get through this…..
    If you don't mind me asking, who sings that 1st song- it is just beautiful!

  4. I can not even imagine… I have a two year old and I don't know if I could be as strong as they are. My mom fought cancer and won, I know this little guy can beat it! Our prayers are with him and his family.

  5. Hey Brooke, I am so sorry for Dani and her family. I posted about it on my blog too so hopefully we can get the word out and help the family. Do you know if they are doing anything in town? Let me know if there is anything that I can do, I would love to help these guys!

    mandi @ vintage revivals

  6. I am so very sorry. my sister-in-law's oldest son was diagnosed with that same kind of leukemia when he was three years old. He went through all of the treatments and was in remission for several years, when last fall, the youngest boy in their family was diagnosed with the same thing. he was only two also. It is not an easy road, but it can be beat. Please let Dani know that our hearts and prayers are with her family right now in this difficult time. If you would like, I can even e-mail her my sis-in-laws e-mail and she may be able to help her through it since she is on round two in her family. My e-mail is jkruesch@msn.com if she needs anything.

  7. Brooke ~ thank you for sharing this with us. We are praying for Chase and his family. He is an amazing God.

  8. I just happened to stumble across your blog today and I'm glad I did. I am in tears reading about Chase. I will be praying for him and his family. It is so sad hearing, seeing of children sick.
    I was diagnosed with cervical cancer last june. (I had a 6 month old daughter at the time and my husband was deployed) I had surgery, chemo and radiation and am now 4 months into remission. I saw cancer patients everyday and everyday I was there there wasn't a time that I didn't cry. Especially when I saw a baby or child. It breaks my heart.
    He will beat this!!! My email is jlm4e@hotmail.com. For anything.

  9. I stumbled upon your blog and just wanted to offer some words of support. What a cute little angel Chase is. This family will be in my prayers. I know somewhat, what they are experiencing. My husband was just diagnosed with cancer. I will try to spread the word about the blog and fundraising through my own personal blog and facebook. I have been amazed at how much God blesses the lives of those who are going through difficult things. I know He will bless this sweet little family and that darling little boy as well.

  10. My 4 year old niece was just diagnosed with a pontine glioma, brain cancer, on August 6th. The average life expectancy is 8 months with treatment. Finding out a child has cancer is the worst thing. Our family will be praying for Chase.

    September is Childhood Cancer Awareness month with September 13th being Childhood Cancer Awareness Day. I've contacted the local news stations in Utah to do a segment on that to help educate our society and to help gather donations to further the advancement of research on childhood cancers. Maybe you and your readers can contact your local news stations and ask the same thing.

    The fight against breast cancer has come a long way due to the fact there is so much awareness and money being donated to research. As a society we can do the same thing for childhood cancers.

    Chase's family is going to have a long road ahead, including financially, so please also, if you can, give to his cause.

    Pray for Chance and if you can remember to, pray for all children with cancer.

  11. That is such a heartbreaking story. I can't imagine what they must be going through. I don't know if she's serious about wanting to buy in Salt Lake, but we are trying to move out of state and need to sell our condo (basically for what we owe), which is only 20 minutes or so from Primary's. There's also Ronald McDonald House, although maybe with his compromised immune system they can't do that? It must be even harder trying to deal with everything and juggle being away from home all the time.

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