Toby

Toby is a foster kid who had lupus.

History
Toby had been diagnosed with lupus. He came to see Cooper because of abdominal pain. He'd been in nine foster homes in four years because no one wanted to be responsible for a sick kid. He was currently living in a group home. Cooper decided to run more tests to find the cause of the abdominal pain. Toby came out and said that he didn't feel well and Cooper saw that his nose was bleeding, so he tried to stop the bleeding with tissues.

Toby had to be admitted to the hospital when his temperature kept spiking and he had signs of liver failure. The lupus triggered hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis. He needed chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant to treat him. Cooper told Jim Davies, his social worker, that he needed to find Toby a foster home because he couldn't go through it all alone.

Toby resisted when he needed to be sedated to get a central line for his stem cell transfusion. He refused to let Dr. Berman sedate him, believing he'd never wake up if she put him to sleep. Cooper got him to calm down, saying he wasn't going to die. Toby then asked Cooper to stay. Cooper said Jim could stay, but Toby said Jim had other kids he needed to take care of, so Cooper agreed to stay along with Jim.

After his stem cell treatment, Toby started to feel much better, stronger every day. His t-cell count also went up.

Friendships
Cooper brought Mason in to spend time with Toby after his treatment. Mason bright Pokémon cards and showed him how to play the game.

Notes and Trivia

 * He hates needles.
 * He'd never played Pokémon until Mason showed him.