Triton Ross was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at fifteen months old. He is in treatment.
What’s one thing you wish you had known in those first 48 hours?
“That shock would feel like numbness, and silence would feel heavier than words. That I wouldn’t remember every detail—but I would remember how deeply I love him in the moment.”
What helped you the most in those first 48 hours?
“Family, the doctors, the nurses. The nurse refused to leave me alone in that empty quiet room.”
What’s is one moment in those first 48 hours that you’ll never forget?
“Shock that didn’t feel real, like I stepped outside my own body. Words were said, but I couldn’t find any of my own to ask the questions that needed to be asked. No sleep, just prayers whispered through tears and long, heavy hours. Everything changed but in that time all I could do is hold him close.”
If you could go back, what’s one thing you’d tell yourself?
“You’re allowed to break in the quiet moments and still be strong for him. Take it one hour at a time, not all at once. You’re going to find a strength you didn’t know you had… because you have to for him.”
This First 48 story was submitted by Katelyn.