Submitted Photo Carson Kiser, a student at Beaty-Warren Middle School, and his dad, Josh Kent, have been through a lot, but remain strong, since Kiser was diagnosed with leukemia in December.

WARREN, Pa. — Through it all, a Warren boy and his family have remained #Carsonstrong.

Carson Kiser has had some tough times recently.

In December, Carson, 10, a student at Beaty-Warren Middle School, was diagnosed with leukemia.

He has been undergoing treatment continually since and is closing in on a bone marrow transplant that hopefully will cure him of his cancer.

“This round we’re in right now, this is heavy-duty chemo,” Carson’s father, Josh Kent, said. “It’s wiping him out. They administer it and he passes right out.”

“Carson is doing pretty well,” Kent said. “From the perspective of the parent… it’s scary. It’s sad. It’s really heavy.”

Father and son have spent most of the past few months at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.

“My other kids are scattered different places, trying to get through the whole thing,” Kent said.

Asked how the diagnosis and months of treatment have changed Carson, Kent said, “He got adorable all of a sudden.”

“He’s the sweetest, cutest kid,” he said. “It blows me away, this kid.”

There is one time when Carson isn’t adorable, and it’s not right after a treatment.

“Carson spends most of his time playing Fortnite,” Kent said. “You see him on Fortnite, it’s 180 degrees.”

It hasn’t been easy staying #Carsonstrong while adapting to leukemia and hospital life.

The news has typically been the worst of the available options.

“We’re getting used to it now,” Kent said. “Whenever it’s time to draw straws, we’re drawing the short one.”

From the possible diagnoses, to the type of leukemia, to the effectiveness of the chemotherapy – “if it weren’t for bad luck,” Carson wouldn’t have had any sort of luck at all, Kent said.

That luck changed for the better with regard to Carson’s hair style.

After the previous round of chemo, father and son decided they would dye each other’s hair a color of their choice. “I’m trying to share as much of the burden as I can with him.”

“I picked purple for him, he picked pink for me,” Kent said. “His purple, that was supposed to be embarrassing, faded into this beautiful lavender.”

Kent’s pink turned quickly to orange. “I looked ridiculous,” he said.

They had agreed to shave their heads together after that.

“I said, ‘All right, ready to shave your head?'” Kent said.

“No.”

Carson’s hair was not acting as expected under the treatments. “It fell out into the most beautiful fade I’ve ever seen,” he said.

“I’ve been walking around a ginger the last few weeks,” Kent lamented.

The time has come. “We’re both going to shave our heads today,” he said. “We’re going to have a little head-shaving party.”

The goal of the chemotherapy is to get rid of the cancer.

“The goal has been and continues to be curing this cancer,” Kent said. “They said that’s what they’re trying to do.”

The rounds of chemo so far have not accomplished that.

“The only crappy part about it is, regardless of whether we get rid of the cancer or not, we’re going to go for it,” Kent said of the transplant.

“If cancer’s still there, it’s more complicated,” Kent said. “If we’re looking at it straight numbers, it’s not the best look. It’s a little disheartening.”

But, he is confident in the team.

“The oncology unit is phenomenal,” he said. “They’ve made this journey a lot easier than it could have been.”

Pediatric bone marrow transplant specialist “Dr. Randy (Windreich) eats breathes and sleeps transplants for AML patients,” Kent said.

He said people don’t really know what the people who treat cancer are all about until they witness it in person.

“We watch TV, and we see all this stuff about cancer,” he said. The reality is, “It’s some super-brain, superhero type of stuff. These people walk in cold every day. It’s up to them to figure out what’s going on so they can treat the child.”

Carson has begun the preparations for the transplant.

Solid matches have been found. “We were fortunate,” Kent said. “They had an entire pool of donors for his particular type of marrow.”

In all, the preparation for the transplant is expected to take four to six weeks and Kent isn’t sure if they’ll even be free to head home for a weekend in that time. “I’m not sure if we’re going to get to go home,” he said.

Home or away, Kent will continue doing two jobs – “just trying to understand what’s going on, so I can make the best possible decisions I can and cracking jokes to keep this kid smiling.”

There will be a benefit drive-through spaghetti dinner to help the family from 3 to 6 p.m. Saturday, April 22, at Hessel Valley Lutheran Church in Chandler’s Valley.

“This weekend, they have a spaghetti dinner going,” Kent said. “They do this periodically, an outreach for people in need. I couldn’t be more grateful that they chose us.”

The generosity has not been limited to Hessel Valley.

“It’s amazing to me the overwhelming wave of love that just washed over myself and my family,” he said. “Friends I’ve made, people I didn’t even know knew me.”

His coworkers at Superior Tire have donated vacation time to him so he would still be paid after his FMLA time ran out.

“To see that the community can come together like it did when I was a kid… never in my life, have I been more proud to be a citizen of Warren,” he said. “I get a lot of energy I have to put back out there.”

“I’ve been raising these kids more or less by myself for a long time. I’m not good at accepting help,” Kent said. “I just appreciate everybody so much.”

All proceeds from the dinner will go to the family. Those who are unable to attend, but would like to donate may do so through checks payable to Hessel Valley Lutheran Church with Carson in the memo line, to 166 Hessel Valley Road, Chandlers Valley, PA, 16312.