Flintstone boy, 3, battling leukemia

Sep. 20—FLINTSTONE, Md. — A 3-year-old Flintstone boy, Jeremiah Mackereth, was recently diagnosed with leukemia and will be undergoing a lengthy treatment regimen at J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, West Virginia.

Jeremiah is the son of Jen and Collin Mackereth who also have a healthy 1-year-old daughter, Sadie. Jen and Collin began noticing a change in Jeremiah in mid-May.

"It started with lumps that we found in his lymph glands in his groin and hip," Jen Mackereth said. "Then he started to limp. So we had some bloodwork done and his platelets were low. That went on three more times all within the span of a week. The very last time we had his blood drawn, his red bloods cell had actually began to drop. So we knew something was up."

"It happened very fast," Collin Mackereth said. "He went from a perfectly healthy kid to hey, something is a little off."

"They had us back in Morgantown the next day," Jen Mackereth said. "That was when they told us what they think it is and they admitted him. The next day he had a bone marrow biopsy. That is when they diagnosed him with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia."

"Nobody ever thinks their 2-year-old kid is going to get diagnosed with cancer all through his bone marrow," Collin Mackereth said. "It's hard to describe."

According to Webmd.com, b-cell leukemia, which originates in the bone marrow, occurs when too many white blood cells are produced, negatively impacting the development of red blood cells needed to carry nutrients and oxygen to your body.

Doctors told the Mackereths that Jeremiah will need to undergo chemotherapy and spinal taps for the next 2 1/2 years. Doctors placed a port-a-cath in Jeremiah's chest for intravenous medications.

"He is actively getting chemo," Jen Mackereth said. "He had a setback this week. His liver numbers were extremely elevated so he was not able to get chemo this week or probably next week either. He had to take a break from chemo. They hope the numbers come down."

Although Jeremiah's overall prognosis is positive, Collin Mackereth said the early days were "surreal."

"It's kind of like a form of grief," Collin Mackereth said. "But it doesn't really register until you are sitting in the hospital and you have him sitting on your lap and he is hooked up and wonders why he has an IV tube and you're trying to make it friendly. It's tough. It's tough and surreal. You have to kind of take it in stride."

Collin Mackereth said Jeremiah, who turned 3 on Sept. 10, is too young to understand a lot of it.

"When it's time to go to the hospital we tell him, 'Do you want to go see your ladies?' We call them his ladies," said Collin Mackereth. "He'll say, 'uh huh (OK).' Before he wanted to be on your lap but now he sits in the chair and lets them do what they need to do."

"He's been a little trooper," Jen Mackereth said.

"He handles it very well," Collin Mackereth said. "I think he's had eight or 10 spinal taps. They knock him out and as soon as he wakes up he's ready. We live on a farm. When he gets home he wants to get on the four-wheeler and go see Pap or go see the cows."

Tony and Denise Partsch Cornwell, owners of the Locust Post Brewery, are holding a fundraiser for the Mackereths on Oct. 1 to help with travel and medical expenses.

"We do a lot of traveling," Jen Mackereth said. "I went up twice this week and it takes an hour and a half. I'm going just about every week sometimes twice. I had to quit my job to be able to help take care of him. My husband is the only one bringing in an income. It's been a change to go from two incomes to one."

"Tony and Denise at Locust Post have been great," Collin Mackereth said. "They're friends of our families. They were one of the first people to reach out to us. The outpouring has been amazing. We are so grateful to everyone."

The Locust Post Brewery is located at 31706 Old Adams Road, Little Orleans. The Oct. 1 fundraiser is from 4 to 9 p.m. with a silent auction, 50/50 drawings, and music by Peace Junkies. For more information, call 301-697-3519.

Jen Mackereth said Jeremiah's prognosis is good with a 90-95% cure rate.

More information can be found on Facebook at "Jeremiah Strong."

Greg Larry is a reporter at the Cumberland Times-News. To reach him, call 304-639-4951, email glarry@times-news.com and follow him on Twitter.