2022 Little Warrior: Teian Hartwig
Teian is a 7-year-old Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia warrior. He was diagnosed with cancer on July 19th, 2021. About 1 week before his diagnosis, Teian had a wood tick. He had headaches and unusual bruising, so his parents brought him to their local clinic. After some blood work they were advised to take him to Sanford Children’s hospital in Fargo for additional testing. His parents thought he potentially had Lyme’s disease from the wood tick. Upon arrival, their doctor wrote down 3 possibilities on a white board. #1. Lyme’s Disease. #2, ITP (a condition that leads to easy or excessive bruising in children. #3, Leukemia. The next morning the doctor confirmed every parent’s worst fear. Teian had B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. This left his parents with a feeling no one should ever have to go through.
Teian will undergo 2.5 years of treatment. He has already gone through so much including a port placement, chemo infusions, injections, oral chemo, lumbar punctures, bone marrow biopsies, hospital stays and so much more. After still having detectable cancer cells after 30 days, Teian was moved to a standard high-risk status. This got him another intense 30 days of chemo, but after that he was in remission. He is now almost done with his current phase of receiving high doses of Methotrexate in the hospital every other week. He stays for 3-5 days until it clears his body and then he will go back on medication given 24/7 through his port for 28 days and then return to high dose Methotrexate at the hospital every other week for 8 weeks before moving to his next phase.
Teian has struggled both physically and emotionally on his journey, but always finds the courage to get through the tough moments. He has questioned how cancer can and will affect his life and his family has chosen to remain open and honest with him. Despite what he has gone through, Teian always wants to make sure everyone around him is okay. A true warrior spirit.
Link below allows you to donate to Teian and his family. 100% of proceeds will go to him.