Meet Holdyn

Meet Holdyn

An energetic, happy, life loving, young man from Roblin, Manitoba

Letter from A Dream Parent:

Holdyn is a very energetic, happy, life loving, kind, and caring 10-year-old kid! He lives on a farm with his mom, dad, big brother, and his dog in Roblin, Manitoba. He enjoys to be with his brother quadding and sledding, reading and watching funny videos, playing with his dog and hanging with his dad on the farm. He loves to help wherever needed.

In late 2018 our lives were changed from one phone call; Holdyn was diagnosed with Langerhans cell histiocytosis disease. We stayed in the hospital for almost 2 weeks having tests and scans done to try to find a treatment plan for him as a tumour was found on the bone behind his ear.  The beginning of our adventure started with a 12 week treatment cycle of once a week chemotherapy treatments. During those 12 weeks Holdyn was not able to attend school or be anywhere there were large groups of people. This made it very difficult at times to try to keep his spirits up, along with everyone else’s, as he is such a social butterfly and missed a lot of his friends and just being able to do things he used to do.

Pictured: Holdyn during one his many treatments for Langerhans cell histiocytosis.

“This whole adventure has been met with many ups and downs. Trying to stay positive when your child is sick is very hard; they watch you all the time to see how you react. It affects the whole family.”

Missing school for Holdyn was a big deal and the first couple weeks of being homeschooled seemed fun but that dwindled off rather quickly. After the 12 weeks had passed, we went for MRIs and more test to make sure his tumour was responding to the chemotherapy. Now, we travel to Regina and Yorkton, Saskatchewan every three weeks for treatment. Between medications, changes in his body size, and losing a little bit of his hair, he’s been pretty positive at focusing on the real reward of kicking this disease out and for it to hopefully not return.

We were told his chemotherapy treatments would be for 12 months and we are excited for them to be over this fall. We will then engage in more tests and scans in the hopes that his tumour will be gone by then, if not we will find out what our new treatment plan is. Holdyn has been pretty lucky to not have to suffer from any severe side effects or have his immune system compromised. Holdyn is such a trooper even when going through his least favourite treatments! He understands that there are some things he cannot do but the doctors tell him that he should stay active and if he feels he has enough energy he can partake in school activities and outside summer activities. He is currently able to go back to school which is great news for all of us.

Pictured: Holdyn and his dad matching in plaid!

This whole adventure has been met with many ups and downs. Trying to stay positive when your child is sick is very hard; they watch you all the time to see how you react. It affects the whole family. We as a family are very hopeful that we will be receiving good news at the end of his 12 months of treatment. There is very little information on Langerhans cell histiocytosis but we hope that in the future they will be able to explain why this rare disease attacks the autoimmune system. Instead of trying to figure out why this has happened to him, Holdyn just focuses on getting better and doing all of the things that he is able to do.

He is such an amazing positive kid who deserves to have his dreams come true. Holdyn makes everyone smile, laugh, and feel better with his outgoing, funny personality. We are very thankful for the opportunity to be a family that can just relax and have fun and not worry about what our next step is with this dream ...for a little while. Thank you for giving Holdyn his dream to Universal Studios! He is going to be so pumped!!