TAMPA, Fla — When your child is facing leukemia for the second time. You take the wins where you can get them.
And for Candiace Arno, that means celebrating the fact that your son Cooper, can provide a lifesaving bone marrow donation to his little brother, Maddox.
"He is a 100 percent match for the bone marrow transplant! So we're really excited about that, really happy about that. Yay!" she said.
"We're doing a happy dance for that one!" said ABC Action News Reporter, Rochelle Alleyne.
"Yes!" said Arno. It's a happy update in 9-year-old Maddox's uphill climb towards recovery.
But Arno tells ABC Action News that in order for Maddox to even get that transplant in February, he needs to get his white blood cell count back up.
And right now, several infections and a possible second round of COVID-19 are making that difficult.
"He is also still showing the protein spike for the COVID virus, but he's testing negative for COVID," she said.
When Maddox does get his transplant, he and his family will have to stay within 30 minutes of the Orlando hospital for at least 3 months, so he can be monitored.
His mom says to avoid more of the infections he's currently fighting, she'd like the family to quarantine in a travel trailer for that time.
And she's hoping someone in the community can help them find one that's big enough.
"If there's any camping places, RV places that are willing to work with us, you know, help us get one. I'll be able to have a good down payment for one," she said.
