Today was a tough day. But also a good day in that as a family we were able to fulfill Ethan’s final wishes. Near the end Ethan and I discussed what happens “after”. In order to make things bearable we both put forward what we would want. Perhaps not surprisingly, independently, we choose exactly the… Continue reading Keeping our promise.

Today we said good bye. Humbling. Turn out of people was an incredible refection on Ethan’s impact and I believe our shared fear for cancer, especially in a young person.  Thank you to the entire St Cuthbert’s community for seeing our son on his way with such love and genuine remorse. People were kind to… Continue reading Last post….

People are asking where to donate which we did not specify as we did not want to inconvenience anyone, especially after Muriel’s (and her friends/moms) very successful fund raiser walk for PMH in September.  However we are getting repeated requests to suggest something and so here is the link for  The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society… Continue reading People are asking…

The Wissell family will be saying goodbye to their son and brother on Saturday, December 3 at St Cuthbert’s Anglican Church (https://stcuthbertsleaside.com/) @ 12:00 (noon). Ethan specifically wanted his service held at St Cuthbert’s (where he was baptized) as Ian LaFleur the priest-in-charge visited Ethan often at PMH patiently speaking with and helping Ethan as… Continue reading Saying goodbye on Saturday, December 3.  All welcome. 

We lost our boy today. No parents have ever been more proud of a son and Ethan’s courage, especially near the end, was truly humbling. He gave all he had to give, physically and emotionally, in order to fight this battle with leukemia but unfairly the odds were stacked against him.   Ethan was genuinly… Continue reading Ethan Joseph Wissell, September 10 1996 – November 27 2016

Our apologies for not posting for the last while.  Ethan has been suffering through a very tough round of radiation treatment.  We had hoped this may lay the groundwork for another chemo assault.  It seems though this particular case of ALL Type T Leukemia is quite vicious (Our Dr suggested in 30 years she had… Continue reading Update…November 14. 

I am writing this for Ethan as he is having some trouble with fine motor function with his hands, which as he has also lost feeling below his waist is frustrating for him.  For a while we were not sure if this unusual symptom was caused by the cancer or the treatment but increasingly it… Continue reading Update – October 23…waiting for the Dolphins game.

The past couple weeks have been quite tough for me and my family. Last Sunday I had to be brought to the hospital due to the fact that I had lost all ability to control my legs. The doctors here at PMH have been searching to find the cause of my sudden condition and have… Continue reading October 13th, 2016

The past few days have been pretty tough. I found out yesterday that my donor (a woman significantly smaller than me) would prefer to donate marrow as opposed to peripheral stem cells which is not ideal. They are unsure if they will be able to collect enough bone marrow and because she is not my… Continue reading October 1st, 2016

Everything still remains on track for a hospital admission of October 8th. Day 0 (the day I receive my transplant) is scheduled for October 14th. Between these dates I will be receiving my conditionjng chemo protocol which includes high doses of methotrexate and cytarabine, as well as one treatment of TBI (total body irradiation) on… Continue reading September 27th, 2016