Alex Klug is my 17 year old grandson. Alex is a senior in high school and will graduate in 2017. Alex is a high honor student with plans to attend the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee after graduation, majoring in Physics. Alex really enjoys school and is looking forward to college. Alex has been working hard at two jobs to save money for college. On September 21, 2016 Alex was not feeling well and visited Urgent Care due to a fever. Alex had been at the Clinic just a couple weeks earlier with swollen lymph nodes. It was thought to be a virus and a couple days later they returned to normal. A couple days later, Alex developed a mild fever and it also went away. Various symptoms came and went in a short period of time; lack of appetite, sweating, unable to sleep, exhaustion, and just feeling crummy. Yet another fever developed and Alex was again not feeling well. Alex’s mother, Kristen, insisted that they go to Urgent Care. Well, Urgent Care checked Alex out and took a blood test. They were very concerned about his blood test results as his white cell counts were extremely high. The doctor recommended that Alex head to the emergency room at the local hospital, so off they went. Upon arriving at the Emergency Room the doctors performed more blood tests and could not see any sign of infection to explain the elevated white counts. In addition Alex’s platelets were dangerously low. Since Alex is 17, the hospital decided it was best to transfer him to Children’s Hospital in Milwaukee via ambulance due to his dangerously low platelets. Upon arriving at Children’s Hospital around 11PM that night, the hospital quickly admitted Alex. The doctors and nurses immediately began additional tests and discussing the recent medical history. The doctors began asking questions about family health history, including cancer. This became the first indication that this was much more serious than a terrible illness. The first night and morning was a steady stream of nurses and doctors taking good care of Alex, but then on the afternoon of the 22nd, the doctors informed us that Alex has Leukemia. Our stomachs dropped and our throat tightened hearing the news. With virtually no family history of cancer, this came as a tremendous shock. While disappointing news to say the least, Alex remained strong. The next few days turned into a week of tests and an orientation of Leukemia and determining what type it was. It was determined that Alex has Pre B ALL Leukemia. Discussions took place about Alex’s future, high school, homecoming, college, his future family, test studies, and the realization that while tremendous progress has been made in treating Leukemia, there are still risks. Alex discussed his future very rationally and with his head held high. The doctors began to talk about the treatment, primarily the next thirty days. Bone marrow tests and a spinal tap were performed to see if the Leukemia had entered Alex’s spinal fluid. It was negative. The following few days were spent hydrating Alex and doing platelet transfusions to stabilize his platelet counts. The following Monday, the 24th, Alex had is first Chemotherapy treatment. Alex did well other than being a bit nauseous. On Thursday, Alex had his second and was allowed to go home with two Chemo treatments scheduled each week for the next month. On Friday, the day after Alex left, Kristen was asked to return to the hospital as they found a mutation in Alex’s Leukemia cells. It is a genetic abnormality in chromosomes 9 & 22 of the Leukemia cells, called the Philadelphia Chromosome. While Alex elected to participate in the treatment test study, this abnormality disqualifies him from participation. While the treatment plan now changes from three to two years, it becomes much more intense and month two will be spent mostly in the hospital as the treatment has significant side effects. While the risk and the side effects will increase, the doctors have continued to be very reassuring of the treatments available and how Alex’s plans for the future will still take place, maybe just a little later than expected.