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CLEVELAND, Ohio – A seven-month-old baby from northeastern Ohio is the youngest patient in the world to have been diagnosed with extremely rare and extraordinarily aggressive cancer.
When Hawken Hunt suddenly became seriously ill, his parents realized that something was wrong with him.
Although doctors continued to tell Shannon and Bob Hunt that Hawken was infected with a virus like the flu.
"Call it the intuition of the mother," said Shannon. "I just knew."
Five days later, after several emergency visits and blood tests, the Hunts took Hawken to the Cleveland clinic.
Dr. Rabi Hanna, chair of the Board of Pediatric Hematology Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant, immediately diagnosed leukemia.
"They escorted us down a hallway and took us to a conference room and they explained that Hawken had Burkitt," Bob said.
Hawken not only suffered from Burkitt's leukemia, but there was no treatment protocol as it usually affected much older children and infants metabolized chemotherapy differently.
"It's a challenge," said Dr. Hanna. "It's the most aggressive cancer we have. this tumor doubles in size every 24 to 48 hours. "
A team of doctors developed an equally aggressive treatment plan and five months later, Hawken beat all hopes and Burkitt.
Hawken is now a toddler and still has a compromised immune system but is normal in every way. The Hunters claim that this trip taught them the importance of trusting your instinct, your perseverance and your point of view.
"Things for which I had the habit of irritating me do not make much sense," Shannon said. "And I think we can all be a little more patient, a little more caring because we all come with something."
The Hunts is extremely grateful to all the doctors and all those who helped them during these difficult months.
They launched a nonprofit foundation called LifExtraordinary to help fund cancer research in children and help families with cancer.
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