Happy days are here again for a mother whose son underwent chemotherapy to treat his cancer.
Kaitlin Burge, 30, revealed that her son Beckett, 6, is now finished with his chemo treatments, has gotten an “all clear” from doctors and is back at school, according to Kennedy News Service.
The Burge family went viral on social media in 2019 when Kaitlin shared a post-chemo-session photo of Beckett — then 4 — looking sick as he leaned over a toilet as his older sister Aubrey comforted him. The heartbreaking black-and-white photo showed Aubrey, now 7, patting her brother’s back amid his cancer battle.
“When we heard he’d got the all-clear, it was so exciting,” the Texas mom said. “His oncologist came in and said, ‘No more chemo. We’re done. Get rid of everything.’ “
Beckett was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2018 and spent several months in the hospital while undergoing treatment.
“He’s officially done with it and it is a bittersweet moment,” Burge said. “You think you’ll be all happy, but now it’s kind of scary because you don’t have that chemo as a reassurance the cancer’s going to stay away. It’ll be a whole new world.”
Burge also opened up about her son’s reaction to being free of cancer.
“Beckett was shocked [when he got the all clear]. His face lit up but then he said he didn’t want his [chemotherapy] port out because he knew it’d kept him alive,” she said. “He has a bit of nerves.”
She added that Beckett also had COVID-19 at one point. Thankfully, he was asymptomatic and had no symptoms.
The youngster is doing “great” now and “is in a much better place.” Burge added that her son feels like a free-wheeling kid who can now hang out with his friends. “He doesn’t have a lot of restrictions now and can go out and do as he pleases,” she said.
Beckett and Aubrey love spending brother-sister time together like “normal siblings,” their mom said, adding that they play outside and bike home from school together.
“Overall, he’s happy. When he gets his port out in two weeks it’ll be the icing on the cake for him,” Burge said.
As for Aubrey, Burge revealed that during his treatments she was like a “motherly figure” to her little bro.
“Aubrey had such a huge impact on helping him get through this. They developed a bond that only siblings have that I couldn’t even replace,” Burge said of her kids’ inseparable bond.
