Remember Owen Buell of Joliet, the toddler who was diagnosed with a neuroblastoma right before the COVID-19 pandemic began?

His abdomen had doubled in size and his eye looked bruised and was drooping, the story also said.

Since his diagnosis, Owen's had chemotherapy and abdominal surgery to remove a large tumor that had wrapped itself around major blood vessels.

And Tuesday night, Owen, who wont even turn 2 until Aug. 10, had the first of two stem cell treatments.

His health care team is hoping will help to address the hot spots in some of his bones his shoulders and one of his shins places chemo struggles to reach, according to his great-grandmother Jackie Moore of Florida.

The big thing yesterday is that he had very high blood pressure, Moore said. But sometimes thats from too much hydrationonce they put that IV in, he had tons of fluid.

But the family, which includes his parents Brian Buell and Valerie Mitchell, along with his brothers Elliott, age 8, and Bentley, age 5, still needs financial help.

Although the GoFundMe account has raised $20,000 of its $30,000 goal, donations have stalled, Moore said, but the familys needs are still so high.

Brian and Val are exhausted," Moore wrote on the Help for Baby Owen Buell Facebook page. "Val has the weight of the world on her shoulders and it shows on her face. Brian has done so much.

"Now after almost 5 months he is able to give Val a day off from the hospital. Otherwise, they have been there 24/7 with Owen. There are no volunteers right now because of the Covid virus."

No one is working right now and the familys van has taken a toll with the continual trips to Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago.

The medical bills for all this care has gone over a million dollars, Moore wrote on the Help for Baby Owen Buell Facebook page. Just one of Owen's shots is $6,000.

On top of the financial worries, Owens chemotherapy treatments have been very rough, Jackie said. When his platelet count would plummet, he went to the hospital for transfusions, she added.

Owen requires frequent diaper changes because the chemotherapy is so acid it can burn his skin, Moore said, so his parents have a special cream to use, too.

Doctors could not remove the part of Owens tumor that had wrapped itself around his major blood vessels, Moore said.

They literally would have scraped them off the blood vessels. It was too risky, Moore said. They could have nicked one of those blood vessels and he could have had a major bleed.

Owen required a special chemotherapy before the stem cell transplant. And then he had to be submerged in water every six hours to reduce the likelihood of welts, a reaction from this type of chemo, Moore said.

Sometimes he complains his leg is hurting, Moore said. But he never says his head hurts from the chemotherapy or that he is going to throw up because he doesnt have enough vocabulary for it yet, she added.

He simply throws up.

A nasogastric tube makes it difficult for Owen to eat.

And still he smiles, Moore said. Sometimes not the biggest of smiles.

But about 2 million stem cells were harvested from Owens body. He will stay in the hospital for a month and a parent can remain with him. Then Owen will go to a Ronald McDonald House for two weeks because he will need to stay close to the hospital, Moore said.

And then Owen will repeat the process: two rounds of potent chemo, a second stem cell transplant, a month-long stay in the hospital and two weeks at Ronald McDonald House, Moore said.

Hes at the point where he knows something is wrong, Jackie said. But you cant sit him down like you could to even an 8-year-old and say, Youve got this thing that wants to hurt your body.

People can donate to the GoFundMe page at bit.ly/2S7sPN7 or visit the Help for Baby Owen Buell and His Family Facebook page for updates and detailed instructions on other ways to help the family.

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Whatever happened to baby Owen? - The Herald-News