A North Country school community rolled out the "orange carpet" Monday morning for a student battling cancer. Our Matt Hunter has more on the emotional return to the classroom.

FORT ANN, N.Y. – Not every young student will tell you it's their biggest wish to return to school, but after weeks away from the classroom, Fort Ann first grader Mikey Sexton had been missing a lot.

"He was so excited, and that is all he talked about, was how much he wanted to go back," said Mikey’s mother, Patty Sexton.

"My friends, everything,” Mikey said of what he missed most.

It was this time last month when doctors diagnosed the seven-year-old with chronic myeloid leukemia.

"I went down to my room and I was face forward on my pillow crying," Mikey recalled.

"Leading up to that, he hadn’t been feeling good,” said Mike Sexton, Mikey’s father. “He was really tired, you know, kind of pale, not really acting like himself."

More common in adults, the rare form of blood cancer affects an average of only 150 American children a year.

"Your entire world changes,” Patty said. “You go from daily life of going to work and school and everything like that to just worrying about the health of your child."

After six days at Albany Med, Mikey spent the following two weeks home taking an oral chemotherapy drug. The whole time he was missing them, Mikey's classmates anxiously awaited his return.

"Forever they have been asking 'when is he coming back, when is he coming back? Can we do a video today? Is it time to do a phone call?' " said first grade teacher Lynn Andrejkovics. “The kids have been very, very excited."

On Monday, they waited no longer. Healthy enough to be back in school, Mikey was greeted by all of his classmates, each offering a high five while wearing orange "Fight Like Mighty Mikey" T-shirts.

"I was just, like, surprised," said Mikey, whose favorite color also happens to be orange, the official color of leukemia awareness.

"You could just see the sparkle in his eye. He was so excited," Patty said.

The hero's welcome continued every step of the way to his classroom, with nearly all 500 of the district's students and their teachers joining in.

"The school is like a family,” Andrejkovics said. “When something happens to somebody in your family, you pull together and you do what you can to support them and show that you are there for them."

"To come back and see that, it truly warms your heart,” Mike Sexton said. “These people love our son as much as we love our son."

For a boy whose biggest wish was to be back with his friends, the greeting was everything and more than he hoped for.

"It felt good. I felt famous," Mike said.

Mikey's parents say his prognosis is good, and they're considering having him undergo a bone marrow transplant in Boston, which his doctors believe has a strong chance of curing the leukemia.

Friends of the family have setup a GoFundMe page to help with medical expenses. A number of other community fundraisers have been scheduled, including a car wash this Saturday from 8 a.m. until noon at the Fort Ann Firehouse.

The firehouse is also hosting a spaghetti dinner from 3-7 p.m. on May 19. This Friday, the Fort Ann Super Stop will host a silent auction starting at 4 p.m. and donate a portion of the day’s sales to the family.