A 6-year-old boy whose fight against leukemia drew support from across Effingham County received welcome news this week.

Doctors confirmed to Brayden Alleman’s family that his leukemia is in remission.

Beginning last Friday, Karin Alleman and her family have been on a nerve-wracking roller coaster ride. After three rounds of chemotherapy, doctors at first thought it looked as though Brayden was actually getting worse, but then on Monday they said that was not right and that in fact, Brayden was now in remission. To confirm that diagnosis, another bone marrow sample was drawn and sent to Atlanta for testing, and the results came back positive for remission.

Doctors had seen immature healthy cells that hadn’t matured enough to be recognized as healthy.

Family members were ecstatic at the news, according to Karin Alleman. Her son now has only 1 percent of the leukemia cells in his body, she said.
Karin Alleman said she was so elated at the news that she did cartwheels in the hospital parking lot.

“I do think prayers have been answered and I’m very, very grateful,” she said. “I couldn’t have asked for more wonderful, sweet nurses.”

Her son also had a ravenous appetite when he got home. His mother said he just ate and ate until the morning.

Yet Brayden still has a long way to go, she cautioned. They are scheduled to go up to Atlanta this week and it’s possible they might have to stay there for a few months and undergo procedures to infuse him with new cells made possible by a donor match. Even after all the marrow donor matching that was done in the area, a bone marrow match was not found. Instead, a cord match was found and Karin Alleman said that is nearly as good.