I, his mother, was in Sweden at the time visiting my grandmother who was on her death bed. My husband called me to tell me he was going to take Mikah to the doctor. On the way to the pediatrician’s office he decided that he was going to take him to the emergency room instead. At the ER they did lab work and could tell right away that something wasn’t right. Mikah’s dad was told he would need to be transferred to a children’s hospital for an exact diagnosis. It was then that Mikah was taken by ambulance to Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital. The next day, following a bone marrow biopsy, we found out that 91% of Mikah’s cells were cancerous and that treatment would be started right away. 

It was the middle of the night in Sweden when I got the news. I’ll never forget the feeling of life leaving my body when I got the news. I wanted to be home with my baby and hold him and yet I was on the other side of the world. I made it back to California after a few days. I will never forget walking into Mikah’s room at the hospital and seeing an emotionless child looking back at me. He didn’t smile or respond to seeing me after 10 days. My husband had warned me that because of all of the medicine and steroids he was on he wasn’t the same kid. It was nearly a month before we saw him smile again. 

The next three years were some of the most difficult days of our lives. Eventually we had more good days than bad days and the years of treatment turned to months and then weeks and finally days. On November 15th Mikah took his last chemo pills. Mikah is the strongest and bravest kid I know. Since finishing treatment Mikah has started doing all the wonderful things little boys should do. His baseball team won the championship for their league. He started Jiu-Jitsu again after three years and has won gold at both of his tournaments. We have no doubt that God has amazing plans for his life!

-Sarah Carney, mother