Charlie is very giggly and happy go lucky. She’s wild and beats to her own drum. She loves playing outside and learning to garden. She loves dinosaurs, fire trucks and trains. She has grown an attachment to her brother and they laugh back and forth together.
In the spring of 2017, she had bulging on the right side of the stomach. Family members had made comments on how hard her stomach was and when we went to look at it, the right side was bulging to the size of a tennis ball. She was diagnosed on April 16th 2017 with Stage 3 Kidney Cancer.
They removed her right kidney and a tumor the size of a softball/grapefruit. After that she received 6 radiation treatments and 15 chemo sessions over a 28 week span.
Her diagnosis gave us a better appreciation for life. She was a year and 8 months old when she was diagnosed. We had to take life day by day, as far as what we could do and the choices we made.
Charlie Ann is extremely strong and independent. She is a true fighter. A lot of people used to say that “you can’t tell she’s battling cancer” because she just seemed so strong and happy. She was sitting up in her hospital bed two days after her main surgery. Showing her true strength! On her worst days, she would still find a way to smile and laugh.
Grayson has always been a wild little boy, with so much spunk in him. He has always followed his 2 older brothers Colten and Ryker. With them all being boys they like to be crazy and do some dangerous things like boys do. We noticed Grayson had a bump on his right abdomen, and thought it was just a hernia, until it kept growing and it concerned us.
My husband and I took Grayson to Wolfson Children’s hospital in Jacksonville Fl. We were there for 6 hours. He had scan after scan. The doctor pulled my husband and I out of the room so i knew it was gonna be bad, and I was right. We were told the worst news any parent wants to hear. Grayson was diagnosed with Stage 4 Wilms Tumor on November 27th, 2016. That day changed our life drastically.
There was many obstacles we had to over to overcome. My husband and I were always splitting our time being in hospital with Grayson and at home with our other boys so nobody felt left out. We made the decision to send our 2 older boys to North Carolina with my sister for a month while my husband and I could be together during surgeries and treatments.
We had to work on family life and communication so our other kids could understand the best they could with what was happening with their younger brother Grayson. With Grayson diagnosis it made us all open our eyes and find the true meaning and value of life.
Even though Grayson has dealt with more than he should have being so young, this journey has made him stronger and I know he can tackle anything that comes his way. This journey has brought amazing people in our lives. Our family was very happy when Aug 11th, 2017 came around because that was our last day of chemo. We have kicked cancer in the butt!
Micah is so full of life! Very energetic and super funny. He is always making us laugh! He loves paw patrol, Mickey Mouse and pretending to be a pirate. He loves water. He loves anything fast, especially cars and trains! He loves being outside, especially going to the park. He is very loving and cuddly. Nightly snuggles are his favorite!
In the spring of last year, we felt a lump in his stomach. It turned out to be kidney cancer. Micah had surgery to remove his kidney with the tumor. That was followed by two weeks of radiation therapy and then almost a year on a very intense regimen of chemotherapy. He had many hospital stays, practically no immune system, fevers, infections requiring antibiotics, and blood transfusions due to the effects of chemo. There are also potential long term affects from the chemo, including infertility and higher risk for secondary cancers.
It was hard for our whole family because it was mainly me staying with Micah, while my husband and daughter were at home. So it kind of split us apart a lot. My husband still had to work. Which was hard because, of course, he wanted to be there for Micah (and me) too. But he was there when he could be, and our daughter really liked coming to visit during the summer months when she was off school and on weekends.
Through everything Micah was almost always still full of energy and wanted to play and be silly. His resilience was a real inspiration to all of us!
My daughter Parker has been on a tough journey this year. One filled with chemo, radiation, medicines, and lots of staying at home to avoid germs. In March, our lives changed when doctors found a 2 pound tumor in her right kidney. She had it removed as well as her right kidney. The pathology showed stage 2 but with 2% bring extremely aggressive it put us on stage 3 protocol. She had 6 days of radiation and 25 weeks of chemo. She was brave and so strong through it all. I am happy to say as of October 22, Parker is cancer free! We will return in January for 3 month scans that will continue for 2 years. We are thankful to have made it through and from this point on we plan to raise awareness to anyone who will listen!
