After almost 4 years of life with no health issues, not even an ear infection, Julian Golden was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia on 2/16/11. He began chemo on 2/17/11.
For 15 days, the chemo did its job: it reduced the leukemia cells ("blasts") in his blood from 34% to 2%. However, the chemo also killed off the white blood cells and other parts of the blood that would normally enable him to fight infections.
Two weeks after his treatment began, Julian developed an infection that his body couldn't fight. He went into sepsis and lost his leukemia battle in a matter of hours.