ForeverMissed
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His Life

Michael (Mikey) Dee Thorpe Jr

January 28, 2015

Michael Dee Thorpe Jr–Mikey–was born on Aug. 23, 2003. He weighed in at 6 lbs., 3 oz and was 19 inches long. As a baby, he was always happy and developed a spirit and personality all his own.

As months grew into years, he continued to show how he was unlike any other kids. Throughout the toddler years, he developed a sense of “OCD” where he would sort and line his toys up so they were perfectly placed. If one fell out of place he would start all over. This continued over the years, especially with hot wheels.

Along with his love for cars, he developed a love for Legos. Between the two, he would be in his own world for hours. When it came to school, he was always interested and eager to learn more and showed some amazing handwriting and artistic skills.

Then in 2009, something wasn’t right, he became ill and started slowing down. Starting with basic childhood illnesses, antibiotics didn’t help and blood was drawn. On May 16, 2009, Mikey was diagnosed with ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia). Treatment started right away. Mikey responded quickly and entered remission within one month, but continued treatment for three years. During this time, it never did get him down or slow him down. During the year of 2012, a wish was granted that would take him and a few family members on a trip to San Diego where he visited the zoo, Sea World and Lego Land. His family celebrated the completion of chemo therapy when he came home.

A couple months later, Mikey started experiencing pain once again.This time, his disease was more resilient against chemo and a bone marrow transplant was suggested. Days turned to weeks in preparation for this and Mikey was ready for bone marrow transplant on April 2, 2013. Still remaining brave and strong, he counted down 100 days till he could leave the hospital. From the hospital, Mikey visited the local Ronald McDonald House then finally returned home in Evanston. In August 2013, he received another bone marrow transplant. For the best quality of life, doctors said Mikey should stay home and enjoy the remaining days with his family.

We returned home and Mikey’s bucket list was created, which included flying the skies to riding the waves of rivers and lakes. He was Officer Mikey one day and Sergeant Mikey the next. With community support, he gained the knowledge of running construction equipment and driving 18-wheelers. For fun, he gained the love of the fast life from 4-wheeling, motorcycles and race cars.

He was given the name “Lego.” Then we saw his “country” side, from learning to hunt to being a cowboy in a rodeo. Ten years was short, but he lived and loved a lot, both family and friends, young and old. The last few months required some trips back to the hospital for transfusions. During one of these trips, Mikey qualified for an experimental drug with a 50/50 chance of curing him. We thought, sure why not? Unfortunately, side effects and complications came from this treatment, which was stopped and the inevitable was in the future once again.

Mikey started slowing down, but he wasn’t done. He would see some friends one more time and bring a date to the high school winter ball dance. Then, sadly, on Jan. 29, 2014 he was given a routine transfusion, but everything took a turn for the worse. Mikey was done fighting here on earth and was ready to begin his journey in heaven. During his life, he touched the hearts of many and will never be forgotten. We love you and miss you.

R.I.P Mikey