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- Andrew with Commissioner Jerry Kurz
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- Joyce from the Iron, a tremendous help
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- Ron from the Iron made it all happen
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- Brad LaCombe, former Mustang great
The Iron Kid of the Game for the playoffs was Andrew H. Andrew is 8 years old and LOVES sports. He goes to our church and our families have been friends for a few years, so it was quite a shock when earlier this year, Andrew was diagnosed with Burkitts Lymphoma, a rare form of Leukemia. Here is a bit of his story his mother wrote on his CaringBridge website.
“Andrew came home from school on February 24th and I noticed he has a strange sound to his voice. I asked him if he had a sore throat and he said no. He also said it was not bothering him. We went to get his little sister, Megan, and after he spoke some more and I felt as though something was in his mouth, I pulled the car over and asked to look inside. Much to my dismay was a golf ball size red lump covered in white looking infection. I called his primary pediatrician and we went right in about 45 minutes from when the lump was discovered to his doctor. After a quick look in the mouth, Dr. Sewall gave Andrew an antibiotic and did a strep test. I called the next day and the test was negative for strep. I decided that over the weekend he probably should be seen by an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor and got a referral. We saw Dr. Neinhuis on Wednesday the 3rd of March, who also was shocked to see such a large lump in Andrew’s throat. He said that it needed to be removed and that it would get sent to the lab for testing. Andrew had a tonsillectomy on Friday the 5th and recovered at dad’s house over the weekend. Dr. Neinhuis’s office called and asked if Jim, Andrew and I could come in and see him right away. We had a 12:30 p.m. appt and he told us Andrew most likely had a rare, but aggressive form of lymphoma (cancer of the lymph system) called Burkitts Lymphoma. After running around and getting all the necessary paperwork and labs, Andrew was admitted to Children’s hospital in Wauwatosa, about 10 minutes from Jim’s house. Andrew went through a whole range of tests and started chemo on Friday evening, March 12th…”
If you would like to check out his CaringBridge site you can view it here http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/andrewhodgson
As you can see from Andrew’s pictures of the Iron Game, he got to meet a lot of people, including the Commisioner of the AFL, Jerry Kurz. Andrew and his friends had an absolutely great time hanging out next to the field. In fact, I couldn’t get him back to his seat after we walked on the field. We spent the rest of the game in the end zone hanging out with the big wigs and having a lot of fun.
Thanks again to the Iron, the AFL and all of the fans who have cheered for Andrew and the other Iron Kids this year. It was a great experience for all of the kids and Skywalk Pharmacy is looking forward to providing these kids with a memorable experience for years to come with the Milwaukee Iron.
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