Until recently, Traxton Rex Bennett, 2, of Big Piney lived up to his nickname, “T-Rex.”
He was full of energy and constantly starting mischief with his big brothers, Dayton, 13, and Damien, 8.
Just before Thanksgiving, Traxton — who had hardly ever been ill — started showing alarming symptoms.
He kept running out of energy and had sudden fevers that would spike to 104, then go away.
His parents, Erika and Preston, took him to a local clinic, where doctors quickly determined he had to be transferred to a hospital in Salt Lake City for further tests.
When the diagnosis came, it hit the family like a sledgehammer, shattering their quiet, small-town Wyoming life.
Traxton is fighting ALM leukemia, with translocation mutations, a rare, aggressive form of the cancerous disease.
“We were having our little Wyoming life. Just relaxing. We were even a little bored. Now, we’ll never have another relaxing moment for a while,” Preston told Cowboy State Daily.
Traxton is expected to be in Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City for 6 to 8 months, and after that, his prognosis could still be touch-and-go.
And the family, which is used to spending nearly all of their time together, is split up this holiday season and won’t have Christmas together.
Traxton and his parents are staying in the hospital. Dayton and Damien are in Big Piney with their grandmother Coreen Rowlett, who is Erika’s mother.
Rowlett said the family is tight, and Traxton has excellent parents, but she’s still concerned about the burden they carry.
“I really worry about the mental health of Preston and Erika. They try to be strong. But this has really taken a toll on them, mentally,” she told Cowboy State Daily.
‘Wyoming Is Showing Me How To Do It’
His youngest son’s illness isn’t the first steep challenge that Preston has faced. Over the course of many years, he built himself back up from rock bottom.
“About 15 years ago, I was doing badly. I had just gotten out of prison” for drug-related charges, he said.
He went to work in the Wyoming oil fields and said that was instrumental to him re-forging himself.
“Even since then, I’ve just been killing it, doing everything I could do to be a better man, and Wyoming has really been showing me how to do it,” he said.
Rowlett said she’s grateful for her son-in-law.
“I am super-proud of Preston, because he has made a huge turnaround. He’s very much a family man now,” she said.
So, it’s hard to have seen him so far, only to be dealt such a heavy blow, with his beloved toddler facing a life-threatening illness.
Erika has multiple sclerosis, which adds to the challenges, Rowlett said.
“Erika is frustrated that she can’t do more to help,” she said.
Despite all of that, and the geographic separation during the holidays, the family is closer than ever, she added.
“We kind of push through every day, and we take any small thing that is good and make it a win,” she said.
Local Celebrity
Rowlett said she and her family can’t be thankful enough to their community. The news of Traxton’s diagnosis shocked and saddened the tiny town at first, but now there’s a growing resolve to join in Traxton’s battle against leukemia.
She works from home while watching over Dayton and Damien, but said she’s never really on her own.
“I get text messages all day, people want to check on Traxton and offer support,” she said.
Traxton is a local celebrity. His parents worked at the Big Piney Fast Stop convenience store, and they took Traxton there with them.
“They would take him there, and put him in a baby bouncer. He grew up in that store. The town watched him grow up,” she said.
On The Other Side Of Giving
Preston said he’s used to being among those stepping up to help the needy, so it’s been tough transitioning into the role of one in need.
His family was close with Dakota Farley, 23, who was murdered in February. Prosecutors say Rowan Littauer shot Farley with a bow and arrow, fatally wounding him. Orion Schlesinger is also charged in the case.
Preston started fundraising for Farley’s family, and raised $10,000 to pay for the funeral and other expenses.
A GoFundMe site has been set up for Traxton and his family. Preston said that he and Erika are learning to be humbly grateful for the help of friends, neighbors and strangers.
“To be humble, that’s so hard for us,” he said.
“We need to learn to accept help. To accept when somebody’s trying to do something special for us,” Preston added.
Rock Star Big Brothers
Rowlett said Traxton’s big brothers took his diagnosis hard, but they’ve been handling it well.
Traxton’s treatment will include a bone marrow transplant, and doctors have determined that his brothers are likely the best candidates for donors.
Not only have they accepted it, they’ve been arguing over which one will get to do it, Rowlett said.
They’ve been telling each other, “I’m going to be the donor,” she said.
Damien asked her recently about anesthesia.
“He asked, ‘When they put me under, because I’m going to be the one doing that, how does that work?’” she said.
I am super, super proud of the older boys. They’ve come together to help around the house and help me here,” Rowlett said.
However, there’s no denying the sadness they feel, being apart from their parents and little brother during the holidays, she added.
“They understand that mom and dad can’t be here for Christmas, and that’s hard for them. But they understand,” she said.
Hoping To Get Outside
For the usually rambunctious Traxton, being cooped up in a little hospital room has been rough, Rowlett said.
He has only one window to look out of.
“He can tell you about everything he can see outside of his window,” she said.
It’s hoped that within about two weeks, Traxton will be strong enough to go outside, if only for a few minutes.
“It’s going to be tough on him, having to go back into that hospital room,” she said.
Life Changes Forever
Traxton’s toughest fight is ahead of him, but the family has hope that someday, he’ll be playing outside again, Preston said.
And even then, he’ll require regular checkups.
“When he’s good and running around and being a boy again, we’ll have to check and make sure it’s not coming back,” Preston said.
And for the foreseeable future, he’ll have to be no further than about an hour away from the hospital.
The family will probably keep their home in Big Piney, but will have to get a fifth-wheel camper to stay in, closer to Salt Lake City.
The ordeal has brought the family closer to their faith, Preston said.
They’ve recommitted themselves to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS).
“We started going to church again, and bringing the Lord back into our lives,” Preston said.
“This has brought us way closer to the Lord and our faith is definitely going in the right direction,” he added.
Rowlett said her journey so far has been marked by tears of sorrow, and of joy.
“I cry every day, I honestly do. Over bad things and good things,” she said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
