WHEN widowed mother of five, Dekesha Vallet, rushed her eldest child to the emergency room in mid-January, it was due to pains that she suspected were a “flare up” of Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis, a condition he had been diagnosed with a year prior.
Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis or JIA, is a type of arthritis commonly found in children and teenagers below the age of 16. It typically causes joint pain in the hands, knees, ankles, elbows and/or wrists, among other body parts.

However, what was affecting 12-year-old Ezekiel Harris, was far graver as she would later learn. A blood test conducted on the child revealed expected abnormalities, but it was the bone marrow biopsy that would highlight the real root of the issue.
“When they got the results, he was diagnosed with AML. [It’s] cancer,” the distraught mother explained, in an interview with this publication on Monday.

“He got diagnosed, like, 3 weeks ago,” she informed.
Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) is a type of blood cancer that begins in the bone marrow, which is the soft inner part of the bones. It usually begins in cells that turn into white blood cells, but may start in other blood-forming cells as well. The cells then spread to other parts of the body, such as the lymph nodes, liver, spleen, brain and spinal cord, and testicles.

“I was shocked, I was depressed, [and] speechless… My son, I don’t know if he had the cancer before. I think it was there, but he wasn’t diagnosed. But over the year, since he got the arthritis—well, we knew it as arthritis— the pain happened more often than before. Then they diagnosed him with the cancer.”
While it was difficult to determine the stage of the AML, doctors informed Vallet that Ezekiel’s condition was critical, and noted that in order for him to have a chance at recovery, he would need to undergo special treatment at a private facility. The Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), where Harris has been a patient for more than 20 days, does not have the equipment necessary to prevent his condition from worsening.

“Right now, his platelet [count] keeps dropping. The platelet is the part of the blood that the cancer feeds on, so that’s now low, and they can’t discharge him right now, because more damage will be caused to him. The platelets are used to clot the blood, and the platelets keep dropping. Even if they give him platelets, sometimes by two days he gets the pain, and the platelet goes back down,” she said.
Vallet went on to explain that her son would experience severe swelling to his joints, more frequent pains, and fevers, which only increased over time, during his stay at the hospital.
“To me, he does be delirious, because at one point last night when the pain was too much, he took off the things for the pressure that were in his arms and on his skin and so. That never happened before,” the worried mother added.

Noting this, she went on to express her fear that Ezekiel’s condition was getting worse.
“They say that the sooner we get him to a facility, the better it would be [for him], because his condition is getting worse and worse. He needs a facility that will give him chemotherapy, give him blood, and give him platelets. And his blood is a special type— O negative. At one point, they tried giving him platelets, but it was giving him a reaction. He was scratching at his skin and crying for his stomach, so they had to disconnect it.”
When asked about the cost of Ezekiel’s treatment, Dekesha remarked that she was uncertain as to the amount needed, or as to the time frame within which he needed to receive it.
“I know he needs urgent treatment. His condition is critical, but I don’t know how much it will cost,” she expressed. “They said the information has to go through the board, and then they’ll be able to make a decision,” she added.

Ezekiel is currently receiving saline, along with medicine for joint pain and stomach pains, at the GPHC.
Anyone who wishes to make a contribution toward his treatment can contact Dekesha Vallet on 629-0100, or deposit the donation into Republic Bank Account No. 962 951 361 294.