danny selgado

April 2019

Danny is a 16 year old high school student who loves to skateboard, design hoodies, listen to and compose music.  He enjoys school and is studying the Portuguese and Spanish languages.

On December 2, 2018 Danny was experiencing petechiae, small round red spots that appear on the skin caused by broken capillary blood vessels, that seemed to be progressing.  His parents took him to Medford Urgent Care hoping to get some answers.  Danny’s symptoms were very alarming to doctors, and after a blood workup they referred him to Asante’s Emergency Care.  After meeting with doctors at Asante, who ran further blood tests, it was discovered that Danny’s white blood cells were abnormally high, which indicated Danny had some form of cancer.

 Accompanied by his Dad, Danny was immediately air lifter by Mercy Flights to Portland, where he was admitted to Doernbecher Children’s Hospital.  While at Doernbecher, several more tests were done and results indicated that Danny had a form of cancer called Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL).

ALL is a type of cancer in which the bone marrow makes too many immature white blood cells.  The cells do not work like normal, and are not able to fight infection very well.  Leukemia is a very aggressive form of cancer, and requires immediate treatment. 

Danny started the 1 month induction treatment phase on December 3rd with the goal of achieving remission.  Danny received spinal taps (lumbar punctures) once a week and daily chemotherapy and steroid treatments.

Danny’s last lumbar puncture was on January 3, 2019, and it showed no sign of cancer.  He is now in the consolidation phase and will continue to receive chemotherapy until he can be moved into the maintenance phase.

ALL is a type of cancer that requires treatment and monitoring for a typical 3 plus years.  Danny has a long journey ahead of him, but he is determined to not let this slow him down.  He plans on doing everything that keeps him feeling like his vibrant, creative and adventurous self.