Owen's Corner

Owen's Corner Hi, I’m Owen’s mom. Owen is bravely fighting leukemia.

I started this page to share updates on his journey and offer tips that have helped us—hoping to support other families going through similar challenges. 💛

Owen Update Owen is rolling into Day 11 at Children’s Hospital.These last few days have been hard on him. He’s been rel...
04/05/2026

Owen Update

Owen is rolling into Day 11 at Children’s Hospital.
These last few days have been hard on him. He’s been releasing a lot of pressure, frustration, and sadness over wanting to go home but not being able to because of his immunity. That is such a hard situation for a child to process.

He’s been having these emotional episodes almost daily.
I feel like Thursday was the hardest. We were also preparing for the memorial that day. A dear friend came by and dropped off memorial emblems so we could have our own little table set up, and she brought her sweet little boy. Owen and Oliver were able to play for a bit, which was such a bright spot.

But as soon as they left, Owen really went into a funk.
I felt a heavy presence trying to wear us down so we wouldn’t log into Zoom for our meeting that evening. But Jehovah gave me the strength to give Owen space first, and then to lovingly set firm boundaries.
In that moment, I truly felt like Jehovah gave me the words. I was simply the vessel.

Later during shift change, the night nurse came in and told me, “I heard about how amazing you were with Owen.” That meant a lot, especially knowing we were able to work through the moment before psych needed to step in.

Owen has still had some sad days since then, but thankfully not to the level of Thursday morning.
We are doing our best to stay busy.

Even though Owen gets bored in the room, there are still many things he can do, and we are trying our very best to focus on what we can control right now:

getting enough rest
staying hydrated
focusing on spiritual things
keeping his mind occupied

Most importantly, we continue to pray for Owen’s ANC to start trending upward so we can finally go home.
Right now, Owen is not receiving chemo. This is his body’s chance to recover before heading into the Maintenance phase.

He also had some dear friends come visit, and that really helped lift his spirits and made the day go by faster.
The weekends are usually the quietest for Owen and for us since many hospital staff are off, but this weekend has been better, and we are praying that continues.

Our prayer is that next week brings discharge and some much-needed time at home.

Thank you to everyone who has continued to pray, think of us, and donate. We truly appreciate every single effort and feel so supported.

Please keep praying for Owen’s counts to rise so he can get home soon.

It has been a while since I’ve posted an update. Since Owen was discharged, we’ve been back at home trying to settle int...
03/16/2026

It has been a while since I’ve posted an update. Since Owen was discharged, we’ve been back at home trying to settle into a bit of normal life again. Last week we were supposed to start his chemo, as I had mentioned before. Owen had been accessed and was receiving a monthly antibiotic to help keep certain bacteria away, but when the labs came back his platelets were low, so we had to head back home and wait.

Now, a week later, we are back at Children’s for his outpatient 5-day chemo treatment.

The weekend before coming back, Owen had a few moments where he was really sad and crying over his dogs — the one that had to be given away and Yari, the one that was run over. He’s had episodes like this before, and usually I’m pretty good at helping him through them. But lately they’ve been happening more often, and I got to a point where something needed to change — something that could give Owen a little emotional rest, and honestly give my nervous system a rest too.

Eman and I talked and decided to get Owen a puppy that looked similar to Yari. I thought about it for a while before bringing it up to Eman because I knew it sounded a little crazy. We definitely didn’t need another dog, but at the same time we both wanted Owen to have something comforting — something he could focus his energy and love on, and something he could look forward to going home to after his chemo treatments.

We started looking on Facebook Marketplace. There were a lot of pups needing homes, and many had rehoming fees, which I completely understand. Eventually I came across a gentleman in Teague who said two puppies had been dumped at his workplace and he was trying to rehome them for free.

I showed Owen the pictures and he picked the little brown and white one. We were told it was a girl. The next day I contacted the man and arranged to pick “her” up on Monday so I could take the puppy to the vet and get cleaned up before bringing it home.

Well… once we got to the vet, the doctor informed me that our “girl” was actually a boy! I had honestly never even checked because the poor pup was in such rough condition when I picked him up. After about three hours at the vet and another two hours at the Tractor Supply self-wash station, this little guy was finally cleaned up and ready.

When I got home, I snuck the puppy through my dad’s window and then told Owen and Oliver I had a surprise. I said the surprise was mainly for Owen, but Oliver would have to help take care of it too. I had them close their eyes while I walked down the hallway and gently placed the “puppy package” in Owen’s lap.

When Owen opened his eyes, he gasped and covered his mouth and said, “Nooooo!” — and then he started crying happy tears. He was completely over the moon and in disbelief that he was actually getting a puppy. He decided to name him **Carlo**.

Owen’s mood has already been so much better. He got to spend about two and a half days with Carlo before we had to come back down for chemo, so we left the little nugget with Eman and my dad. It’s been three nights and four days away from home now, and Owen is really missing his puppy and being home. He’s very excited that tomorrow we should finally get to head back and see Carlo again.

Owen just finished Day 4 of his Nelarabine infusion tonight, and tomorrow morning will be the last one for this round. He’ll get a couple of days off, and then we have to travel back down again on Thursday for a procedure and more chemo.

We’re hoping for another smooth day tomorrow.

I’ve been pretty fatigued lately, so I haven’t been able to do daily or every-other-day updates and reach outs like I normally try to. But we’re still here, taking things one day at a time, and we’re grateful for all the prayers, love, and support that continue to surround Owen and our family.

Meet CARLO. The teeny weeny pit mix

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Harlingen, TX
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