Meet Brayden

After being misdiagnosed twice in August and then again in mid September of 2020, Brayden’s mom took him to the ER in October because his neck was very swollen on both sides and he had a cough. They were transported to INOVA and received an official diagnosis of Acute T-Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia on October 15, 2020. He handled the first round of chemo fairly well until the end when he developed jaundice. He was treated for that but in the process his sodium levels dropped to 122 before doctors finally did anything to treat this.  That’s when mom made the decision to have his care transferred to UVA. That was mid November of 2020.

Mom says, “I knew that’s where he belonged anyway.  And with coming down to UVA we had the sweetest blessing happen. We were able to stay in an apartment with all expenses paid and only 10 minutes away from the hospital through Yellow Door Foundation. There were no housing options like this at INOVA due to Covid.”

Brayden suffered a loss of appetite throughout treatment and many therapies were employed in order to help him maintain weight.  He expereinced a setback in April of 2021 when he developed ulcerative mucocitis and subsequently C-diff which required weeks in the hospital.

On September 12, 2021, after 294 days at Rosie’s Place, Yellow Door’s longest consecutive-stay patient, Brayden and mom were able to return home to Stephens City, VA. 

UPDATE:  We caught up with Brayden on his first day of high school in August 2023.  He is doing well and looking to be a video game designer or architect so taking courses around web tech, multimedia design and technical drawing.  He will complete chemo in March 2024!