Five years ago today, June 20, 2003, a perfect stranger saved our son's life.

Today is the anniversary of Casey's bone marrow transplant. Casey was diagnosed with AML (acute myelogenous leukemia) on July 31, 2002. Casey remembers bits and pieces, but a lot of what he went through is fading away.  He went through tests, round after round of chemo, multiple doses of radiation, cat scans, spinal taps and other procedures. His hair fell out again and again. He got fevers. He threw up.

The day he was diagnosed, I did my show from Georgetown for the start of training camp for the Bengals. I was driving home when Kelly called and said they were on their way to Children's Hospital. His doctor said something wasn't right with his allergies. We had grown concerned with the swelling around his eyes and a bump on his forehead. After a night of tests we were told he had leukemia. The bump and swelling were leukemia cells gathering in his sinus area.

Casey was a big fan of Bob The Builder at the time. On the spot, in his hospital room, we created our own saying, "Can we fix Casey, yes we can.". Kelly and I cried that night but said that would be the last time we would cry. We could not change what had happened, but we could work on the future. The round of phone calls to inform family and friends was rough. Each call pounded home the reality of the situation..

Casey stayed at Children's for over 200 days all together....in for 46 days...home for a few days....back in for 38 days and more chemo. On and on it went. We felt as though we were on a treadmill that never stopped. We set up a rotation to always have someone with Casey at the hospital. Most of the time Kelly stayed with Casey during the day. Our parents, who came from Indianapolis, Chicago, Charlotte and San Francisco, or our neighbor, would watch Peyton. On a typical day, I would go to the hospital after work at 6pm, and spend the night with Casey. Kelly would come by in the morning. I'd run home, shower, work on my show, play with Peyton and head to work. Peyton was just a month old at the time and wasn't allowed to visit Casey. She has just recently started asking about why Casey was in the hospital.

I'll never forget what I consider the defining moment of Casey's fight. I was putting him to bed after a day of throwing up. I said, "Tomorrow will be a better day." He looked up at me and asked, "Was today a bad day?" One of the roughest days was when doctors inserted a feeding line. The chemo made eating impossible at times. Doctors had to insert the line thru his nose and into his stomach. It broke my heart to hold him and hear the screams as they threaded the line. He had it put in on three different occasions.

Casey responded well to the initial treatment and after about nine weeks...the leukemia cells were gone and he got to go home. We were so excited. We thought we were through the toughest part. Sadly seven weeks later the leukemia returned. We were playing in the basement when I took the call from the doctors with the news. How do you tell a three year old he's going back to the hospital and has to go through it all again? Casey said we'd just have to knock the "ickey stuff" out of his body again. But this time, things were much more complicated.

The leukemia was aggressive. It had returned in his jawbone. Our only option was a bone marrow transplant. Kelly, Peyton and I were not a match. We were at the mercy of the marrow donor registry of over seven million donors. Doctors could not find a match. They did find a donor close enough to a match to try it. It was Casey's last chance. He was given a 20% chance of survival. The donor was a mother in the Boston area. She had been in the donor registry for ten years and had never been called. She had moved several times and it was difficult for the registry to track her down. They finally did and she agreed to be his donor.

His transplant took place around 6pm on June 20, 2003. I've never been so scared in my life. Yet, the transplant was simple. They hooked him up to a drip line and it took about an hour and twenty minutes. He was wide awake and aware of what was going on. During the transplant he watched Trading Spaces. Midway through the transplant he said he was hungry. He requested spaghetti and meatballs.

We woke up each morning after the transplant checking his skin. We feared Graft vs Host Disease...rejection of the marrow. Eventually he was allowed to come home. But because of fear of colds and germs, he was not allowed out around the public for a year. His body would not have been able to fight off colds and infections. We got creative with getting him out of the house. He loved car washes. He loved driving around the country/farms. We did both...a lot. We'd pull up along fences with cows and he would moo at the cows. Each day we asked Casey if the marrow felt like his own yet and he said no. After one year he finally said yes.

Over the past five years his doctor check-ups/visits have gradually been reduced. From once a week to once a month to now once every six months. The three year anniversary was a huge hurdle for him.. Doctors say there is no longer a reason to believe the leukemia will return. Doctors in general hesitate to use the word "cured" these days. The five year mark is significant. Casey moves from being treated by the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit to the Long Term Care Doctors.

He will face issues from the leukemia and radiation treatments he received the rest of his life. He has bad teeth. They are coming in every which way...and loose. Some teeth have no roots. He had two teeth pulled two weeks ago. He got a bottom retainer last week. He got top front braces this week. He has cataracts. He will have surgery on one eye later in the summer and the other eye around Christmas. He's learning to deal with his vision issues and playing baseball. Some days he gets four hits, some days he strikes out three times. He says the pitches are right on him before he gets a good look at them sometimes. Considering what he's faced, we can all deal with crooked teeth and glasses.

Today we thank God for providing Casey with the strength and support to fight through this. We thank family and friends for the support structure provided. They came to town and stayed weeks at a time to help us. We thank the doctors and staff at Children's Hospital.. We thank listeners to the show that provided thoughts and prayers with calls and emails of well wishes for Casey. And we thank everyone for charity events done to help us raise money for Make A Wish, the Leukemia Society and Children's Hospital.

As much as Kelly and I tried to be a rock for Casey, he set the tone for our family....at age three. His positive attitude inspired us. He never complained about anything. When I'd think I had a bad show or bad day, I'd walk into the hospital room and see his smiling face and he put it all in perspective. I once said leukemia had met its match.. I was right.

Casey is now 8-years old. He will enter the 3^rd grade. He loves school, loves math, reading and video games. He gets great grades. He plays baseball and basketball.. It's fitting that we celebrate this day by him playing a baseball game tonight. We are so proud of him. He's our hero. We love him very much. Here's to a Happy Anniversary!

Here is a column Paul Daugherty wrote about Casey five years ago

Here is another column by Doc shortly after the diagnosis

Casey last Friday at the Reds game

Casey, at age two, with new sister Peyton. Less than a month prior to his diagnosis

(Enquirer photo)

Sean Casey stopped by to see Casey at the hospital

Ken Griffey Jr stops by the hospital

Casey from his hospital room

Casey just before his bone marrow transplant

Transplant done!