Helping Jaden conquer leukemia

Jaden Petersen is an active 4 year old who idolizes Spiderman — a superhero he hopes to meet when he and his family visit DisneyWorld and Universal Studios through Make-A-Wish in July.
By then, Jaden will have finished his fourth and most intense three-month round of chemotherapy in his fight against acute lymphoblast leukemia, said his mother, Sasha Ford.
To help Ford with travel expenses for treatments and rising medical bills, a benefit baked potato feed, live and silent auction and two gun raffles will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 28, at The Lodge.
If you are interested in donating live or silent auction items, or would like a raffle ticket, contact Rhonda at Coney Island Cafe at 352-7112, Steve Lovett at 350-4705 or Sarah Myers at 350-5891.
Ford, a single parent, said she felt compelled to move back to Huron from Sioux City, Iowa, last July — just days before her son was diagnosed with leukemia. Her mother, Sarah Myers, grandmother, Rhonda Walters, and sisters, Satoya Myers and Alexis Hansen, all live in town.
“I had a dream, just a real bad gut feeling that I needed to come back,” Ford said. “It’s weird how that worked out.
“We moved back just three days before it happened,” she said. “Thursday night he got a bug bite. The next morning there were blisters and little dots all around it on his neck.”
She called the emergency room, and they advised using Benadryl for the irritation.
“Saturday morning it got bigger so we went to the ER,” Ford said. “He was taken by ambulance to Sioux Falls and within three hours we were told it was leukemia.”
Because his platelets were so low, his blood would not clot like normal and caused severe bruising. His blood is monitored weekly, and when needed, he receives platelets through blood transfusions.
Since chemo weakens the immune system, Jaden hasn’t been able to play with children his age or be in crowds. “When his blood count is high we might go to a restaurant,” Ford said.
Around the Fourth of July in 2017, Jaden had pneumonia and blood work taken then showed perfectly normal platelet and white blood cell counts.
“Acute lymphoblast leukemia hits hard and fast,” Ford said. “He’s in remission now. The cancer was in remission a month or two after starting the treatments.”

When the doctor told her the diagnosis, it was like getting the wind knocked out of her, Ford remembers.
“In the beginning I lost faith in humanity — why did this happen to him,” said Ford, watching her son play with his favorite Transformer toys. “We don’t know what to expect.
“I told him that his blood is sick,” Ford said. “He’s like, ‘I’m not sick, I want to go out and play.’ He doesn’t understand.”
Because chemo damages nerves and joints, Jaden sometimes appears stiff when he walks and at times prefers to be carried, she added.
“People don’t know how much time chemo consumes,” said Ford, who stays with her aunt, Judy Brenner, when they’re in Sioux Falls. That is one of the few places in the Midwest that treat childhood leukemia.
“I get mad sometimes,” she added. “I can’t schedule anything. We go day-by-day. If he gets a fever he is flown to Sioux Falls.
“This cancer has made me more mature,” added the 23-year-old.
Ford did have a job when she moved to Huron, but was forced to give it up because of the time she needed to be with Jaden in Sioux Falls for his chemo treatments.
Now she is enrolled in online courses through Northern State University to pursue a history major.
“I try to keep occupied so my mind doesn’t go to a dark spot,” Ford said. “This is the final intense treatment, then we monitor it for a year and hope to God it never comes back.”

Jaden Petersen Benefit:
Baked Potato Feed

Live & Silent Auction
Raffles for two guns

11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 28
The Lodge (Elks 444)

To donate auction items call Rhonda at 352-7112, Steve at 350-4705 or Sarah at 350-5891

CRYSTAL PUGSLEY/PLAINSMAN
Four-year-old Jaden Petersen, who is undergoing treatment for acute lymphoblast leukemia, is shown at home in Huron with his mother, Sasha Ford, and great-grandmother Rhonda Walters. To help Jaden and his mother, a benefit baked potato feed, live and silent auction and two gun raffles are planned from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 28.