Have you ever imagined blasting off for outer space, looking at Earth from the Space Station or maybe even walking on the moon? What about having a desire to possibly be a part of building a space shuttle? You may have never shared these dreams, but ten-year-old Charlie Wanzek of Hazen has! Charlie has dreams of becoming an astronaut or an engineer when he grows up. That is certainly going to take a lot of courage and determination, but courage and determination are two things of which Charlie has no shortage. You see, Charlie was diagnosed in November of 2017 with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
Charlie was experiencing intermittent fevers, body pains and weight loss before his diagnosis. Thankfully, his leukemia was caught early. At diagnosis Charlie's tests revealed 20% blasts, which are immature cells, while most children diagnosed with acute leukemia test at 50% or higher. This meant Charlie was at standard risk, rather than high risk. It also meant that Charlie's course of treatment would be less intensive, as far as the amount of chemotherapy he would require. That doesn't mean it would be easy. The course of treatment will take roughly three and a half years. Charlie has shown his great courage and determination during treatment and has completed two and a half years. There have been small hiccups along the way, but Charlie and his family are counting down the days until Charlie "rings the bell" signifying the end of treatment!