Carla
Appearances
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
In January of 2021, our 13-year-old son, Brett, was diagnosed with leukemia. And the day that he was diagnosed, we were told he might not make it through the night. Whoa. Yes, his white blood cell count was 865,000, which normal is between like 4,000 and 11,000. Whoa. So they basically described his blood being like sludge. So it was causing problems with every organ.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
He spent 19 days in the pediatric ICU at Le Bonheur in Memphis. And then a week of that, he was in a coma. So at one point during that, they called family in to say goodbye, and the staff was just surprised. Every day, he just kept making it. And so we had thousands of people that were following. We had a Facebook page, Brave Like Brett, where people were going to check for updates.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
And we had people praying for Brett from all over the United States and from over 40 countries. Wow. So after that first 19 days in the ICU, he was transferred over. It was just five minutes away, but it took that long to get him stable enough to be able to transfer to St. Jude, where he spent the next 300 days. And so when he got there, he couldn't hold his head up.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
He could barely wiggle his toes. He couldn't remember what had happened 30 seconds before, which honestly at times was a blessing in that he couldn't remember some of those things going on. He just faced overwhelming odds over and over for the next, you know, 11 months while we were there. He had a brain bleed, had lost most of his vision. He had multiple relapses with his cancer.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
And in August of that year, he received a bone marrow transplant, and his brother was the donor. His brother, Bond, was a 100% match. And so... That was a huge blessing. And we were able to go home in December of that year. So his doctors that were with him from the beginning, from the very beginning, called him a miracle.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
And tears would roll down their face, you know, and they would see him coming back for follow-ups. They had never really even seen him walk, you know, at the time that they had had him. And so... Brett is currently, he's 17. He's three years post-transplant. We have moved to Nashville. He is legally blind now. Continues to have the short-term memory loss challenges.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
Has some mobility deficits, but he's attending high school full-time. He's involved in church and best buddies at school. So he is currently cancer-free. Wow. This all happened during COVID, so we weren't allowed any visitors. So there were so many people, though, that were so generous during that time.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
And so, I mean, we had our next door neighbor mowed our yard for an entire year, just without anyone asking, just did it.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
um my husband and i were both coaches referees would just sign over their checks you know at our ball games um sometimes they would do that so all your financial needs were just miraculously covered by community we had lots of help from lots of different people for sure that's special so glad he's doing so well that's pretty cool miracle comeback i love it this is the ramsey show