Bodhi Rost’s smile makes you smile.
His laugh makes you laugh, and there’s no shortage of laughter when you’re around him. He’s a healthy little 2-year-old boy with all the energy in the world.
But it wasn’t always this way.
A bruise that wouldn’t go away
His parents, Heather and Ashley Rost, along with Bodhi’s brother Hudson, live in Fargo, North Dakota. They said one day they noticed what looked like a bruise on Bodhi’s back.
“Kids fall. They get bruises all the time,” said Heather. “But then I started kind of pushing on it to see if he would wince and I’d know it was an injury – he wouldn’t. It was not really moving too much, and also it was getting bigger.”
A biopsy revealed B-lymphoblastic lymphoma.
The Rosts met with Kirk Wyatt, M.D., a pediatric oncologist at the Sanford Children’s Hospital in Fargo, North Dakota. Dr. Wyatt explained that B-lymphoblastic lymphoma is different, but related, to B-lymphoblastic leukemia.
“The distinction is if the bone marrow where the blood cells are made is involved, we call it B-lymphoblastic leukemia. If the bone marrow is not involved, we call it lymphoma,” he explained.
Dr. Wyatt laid out Bodhi’s treatment plan – which would include 10 months of intensive treatment of chemotherapy, as well frequent spinal taps and, “a fairly new immunotherapy called Blinatumomab, which has really improved outcomes for a lot of patients with cancer.”
Blinatumomab is given as a continuous infusion, so Bodhi essentially wore a backpack with an infusion pump.
Living in the Fargo Children’s Hospital
Due to the risk of complications and side effects, Bodhi would have to be hospitalized at the Sanford Children’s Hospital for the entirety of these treatments, which would span nearly 200 days.
Ashley moved into the hospital with Bodhi, while Heather stayed at their home to care for Hudson.
Heather and Hudson would come to the hospital every night so they could all have dinner together as a family. Ashley and Heather both managed working their full-time jobs, caring for Bodhi, while also keeping “some semblance of normalcy” for Hudson and themselves.
They leaned on each other for support, but Ashley said she also leaned on Bodhi’s care team.
“They really were my people for almost a whole year. I would stay up late in the night, and the nurses would come in and I would visit with them about normal everyday stuff. We talked about favorite Netflix shows and a lot of their recommendations I did indeed watch,” Ashley said.
“There were periods of time when Bodhi would get sick or he would throw up, and it usually was all over me because it was in the middle of the night. They would come in and they would clean us both up; the bedding was changed before I could even blink. I mean, they were just so, so supportive.”
Alyssa Stults is a registered nurse and saw Bodhi every single time she clocked into work. She said knowing that she would see Bodhi each day brought a smile to her face.
“It’s truly an honor to be able to see him here (today) and see him get better, watch him grow older, go to day care, develop his speech and hit those developmental milestones.
“It’s an honor to be able to work with these patients and their families and know that we’re supporting them and caring for them the way we would want anybody to care for our own families,” said Stults.
Photo by Simon Floss
Heading home happy and healthy
Bodhi finished the in-hospital portion of his care plan and went home after 198 days. He’s still taking oral chemotherapy until January 2026, but he’s a happy and healthy child.
“On the scans, we have not been able to see any evidence of active disease, so we would say he’s in a complete remission right now,” said Dr. Wyatt during a routine checkup with Bodhi.
Bodhi leaving the hospital was a bittersweet moment for both his care team, and his family.
“When I was at the Children’s Hospital, I was sad because I wanted to be home. Now that I’m home, I’m sad that I wished our days (at the hospital) away because I just miss them so much,” said Ashley.
As a thank you, Heather and Ashley Rost wrote a letter to Bodhi’s care team and read it to them at the beginning of National Nurses Week.
“It honestly brings tears to my eyes just seeing him well and happy and saying sentences and running around with Hudson, because that was our goal,” said Haley Muhonen, a clinical care leader and oncology nurse at Sanford Health in Fargo.
The Rosts said they couldn’t be more thankful for the care Bodhi received.
“When it’s your own child, it’s like you need a whole different set of support,” Heather said. “And they were that plus more.”
Learn more
- 3-year-old with rare cancer-like disease gets care near home
- Children’s Hospital Ambassador has ‘try anything’ spirit
- Fargo cancer nurse donates bone marrow to patient in need
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Posted In Cancer, Cancer Treatments, Children's, Fargo
