Dominic's story

Dominic is our miracle.

After five years of trying to have a baby, we had just about given up. The word adoption had no sooner entered our vocabulary than Trish got pregnant. We were ecstatic.

He was born in October 2012, and it was apparent early on we had lucked out. He slept through the night, didn't have any health problems and seemed to always be smiling. We took him on vacation to meet friends and family in 2013. Got him registered for a day home as Trish got set to re-enter the workforce.

Then he got sick. He didn't sleep well anymore. Suddenly there were little red dots on his head. Within days we were sent 300 kilometres from our home in Medicine Hat to Calgary and the Alberta Children's Hospital, where Dominic was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.

We didn't know much about leukemia at first, but we learned quick. He started chemotherapy right away, then we found out the subtype of his AML was extremely rare and aggressive. Even though the chemotherapy put the cancer into remission, the decision was made to give him a bone marrow transplant.

The transplant was initially a success, but not without problems. He wound up in intensive care twice, once because of a virus and again from a reaction to a drug he was given to combat a different illness. Surviving that, we thought, must surely mean he'd be in the clear.

He wasn't. The cancer came back in August 2014. Doctors came up with a new plan. We were told this is our last chance. Somehow, he achieved remission a second time.

The remission didn't last. We were told this was it. Yet by March 2015 he was not only still alive but the cancer was less. Doctors started using the word miracle to describe it.

With the cancer back worse than ever we took him to Florida for a wish trip. One day he went to Disneyworld; the next, he crashed. He died Sept. 3, 2015.

He may be gone, but our journey continues.