Central Texas, let us introduce you to a very special young boy who is undergoing the fight of his life. Penn or as he is known to his family and friends, Super Penn, was diagnosed with high risk Acute Lymphatic Leukemia (ALL) and has been at Dell Children’s Hospital since December 17th. He has received a number of blood and platelet transfusions to help him get the strength to start undergoing treatment. Penn’s parent’s Annie and Taylor have done the impossible job of documenting everything that Penn has gone through. On Penn’s Facebook page, Super Penn, you can follow Penn’s journey from diagnosis to where he is today. His story has educated and inspired the community as well as everyone here at We Are Blood.
It is probably best to hear about Penn’s story straight from Penn’s parents, Annie & Taylor when they wrote us saying,
“When our 5-year-old son Penn was diagnosed with high-risk Acute Lympathic Leukemia (ALL) on December 17th, 100% of his blood was cancerous, 98% of his bone marrow was cancerous and our lives were instantly changed. Penn was admitted to the ICU at Dell Children’s Medical Center, and it was there where he received his first blood and platelet transfusions to help his body recover from the extremely low hemoglobin and platelet levels caused by his cancer. In those first few days at the hospital, Penn received around the clock transfusions — in total, he was given 7 blood transfusions and 5 platelet transfusions. These incredibly important and life-saving donations allowed Penn’s body to recover enough to begin chemotherapy and his fight against ALL. Penn is now out of the ICU and has been moved to the oncology unit at Dell Children’s where he has spent Christmas and New Year’s while he continues to go through treatment and fights to become well enough to continue his chemotherapy outpatient. The reality is that Penn will likely continue to need blood and platelet transfusions throughout his 2-year cancer treatment. We are eternally grateful to the generous donors who give of themselves to help our son and others like him and we encourage those who have thought about donating blood or blood products to consider making regular donations to help save the lives of children and adults in Central Texas. You can follow along with Penn’s journey on Facebook on his page: Super Penn.” – Annie and Taylor Lampton.
There are many kids battling cancer here in Central Texas, and each of them need our help. The Lampton’s took the words right out of our mouth when they say that your blood and platelet donations can make a life saving difference for each and every one of them.
If you would like to learn more about Super Penn’s story go to his Facebook Page HERE, and if you would like to make a blood or platelet donation in honor of Penn please schedule an appointment at one or our 3 donor centers or mobile drives HERE. You can mention “Super Penn” or his special donation code, D218, the next time you donate.