Shocking diagnosis

Chris grew up on the pitcher’s mound. His dad played in the minor leagues, so it wasn’t a surprise when Chris picked up a ball at 4 and never looked back. As soon as his little brother was old enough to stand up, Chris taught him how to play.

“My dad was always my coach, so that was fun because I normally got to help him with planning and stuff,” Chris said. “Traveling was fun, especially when you win.”

Baseball became his life. Weekends were spent at tournaments. It became the focus of Chris’ family, but his mother, Jennifer, didn’t mind.

“It seemed like this [was] one of the times that he was just relaxed, having fun, especially as he got older and a little more anxious with life,” Jennifer said. “Just maturing as a kid, he’d always easily make friends with his baseball family.”

It wasn’t until November 2019 that Chris noticed anything wrong. He was going to the bathroom a lot, but they cut dairy out of his diet and passed the symptoms off as lactose intolerance. It worked at first, but by March, Chris was throwing up four or five times a day and losing weight. His body was covered in bruises and he developed a rash on his legs, but he didn’t let anything stop him from playing baseball.

“There were a couple instances where I was pitching and I’d throw up and then go back,” Chris said.

They never thought it was cancer. Jennifer, who used to research pediatric leukemia, was careful to limit Chris’ exposure to cancer-causing chemicals since birth and rationalized his symptoms. Chris was already trying to lose weight. She attributed his nausea to anxiety. The bruises and rash to baseball. She thought of every other possibility, from uneven hormones to puberty, but leukemia never crossed her mind.

It wasn’t until early May that they grew concerned. He came home from pitching one Sunday just like he had done for the past decade, but this time something was off. Chris — the energetic kid who regularly got up for early morning practices — went to bed and didn’t wake up for 18 hours. It wasn’t just teenage laziness or exhaustion from a long day at practice. Although cancer still wasn’t on their radar, it became clear that Chris was sick.

He got blood work done the next day. By 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Jennifer received a phone call telling her to rush to the emergency room. Chris’ blood work suggested cancer. They were shocked.

“Everything just stops,” Jennifer said. “It’s a very frightening thing to hear.”

A few hours later, Chris was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, a rare type of cancer that attacks white blood cells.

But Chris saw the situation as many middle school boys would — a promise to skip the upcoming STAAR test.

“Reality still hadn’t hit,” Chris said. “So I really wasn’t upset at first because the thought of not having to go to school was nice. It kind of felt fun.”

But when Chris realized that his diagnosis meant he couldn’t play baseball, dread began to set in. He was worried about missing games and practices before he understood what he would go through. Chris wanted to continue playing baseball beyond high school, but suddenly, even trying out for the team his freshman year was in jeopardy.

“College, pro, just everything above,” Chris said. “Even if I’m not actually playing I want to be some sort of scout or something like that.”