Fernanda was diagnosed with cancer in January of 2021. Leading up to her diagnosis, she had a lump in her tummy which didn’t look normal.
We had to move to another country (the USA) to seek her treatment. We had to adapt to a new life due to having a cancer patient in the family like, clinic visits all week and all the medical issues that come from having cancer. We have to adapt to a new life, a new country, and all the fears that come with a family member dealing with cancer.
Fernanda is a joyful kid. She’s been fighting with such a good attitude and is always ready for what comes next with a straight face. She has taught us to live in the present, let go of what’s passed us, and enjoy whatever we are doing at the moment. She has been such a strong fighter!
Aubree is super sassy and very lovable and caring. She loves unicorns and rainbows and has a very chipper personality.
Aubree was diagnosed with diffuse anaplastic Wilm’s Tumor on January 9th, 2021. Leading up to her diagnosis, she had side pain due to her tumor bursting.
On March 15, Talia had blood in her urine. We contacted her pediatrician who recommended that we go to urgent care the following day. At urgent care, they diagnosed her with a bladder infection and gave her an antibiotic. The blood continued and she had no other pain or symptoms. Two days after our visit to urgent care the urine culture results showed that it was not a bladder infection so we should stop the antibiotic and see our pediatrician the following day. On March 19, we had a visit with our pediatrician and he decided that the next step would be an ultrasound at another clinic. He said that after the ultrasound is read, he will receive the results and we should wait in the waiting room for the results via a phone call. He called and told us that the results were not what he was expecting. She has a large mass on her kidney and he has already arranged for us to immediately head to Children’s Hospital of WI to be admitted. We were admitted, met our team of doctors, had many test results, surgery scheduled to remove the tumor and right kidney, recover, begin chemo, and radiation.
Talia’s two older cousins both had Wilms Tumor when they were young kids. They are brothers and 25 years ago their doctor said it was a coincidence that both brothers had the same type of cancer. When Talia was diagnosed it was even more of a coincidence that she had the same type of cancer as them. Seven months after Talia’s diagnosis, one of the cancer survivor’s own son was diagnosed with a Wilms Tumor. All four family members had a kidney removed and were diagnosed with the same uncommon cancer. We are now working with genetics to help our future generations.
We live each day to the fullest and know that cancer can happen to anyone. Because of Talia’s diagnosis and genetics results, we had genetic testing done with our other 3 children. The genetic testing showed that 2 of our other 3 children also carry the gene which is believed to be the reason why Talia developed a Wilms Tumor. They will be monitored through ultrasounds to watch for any growth of tumors. They will be able to give this gene to their future children. So out of our 4 children, 3 carry this gene.
Patty was diagnosed with Wilms tumor on 01/28/2021. Due to the tumor, Patty will have to undergo chemotherapy/radiation over the next 6 months to 1 year to ensure all the cancer cells are out of her body. Before her diagnosis, Patty had a lump on her stomach, was not eating, puking, and constipated.
We are getting through this. It has been hard and Patty’s diagnosis shocked us. But we are going to make it.
Teddy started wetting the bed, which was very odd for him, even as a 4-year-old. That graduated to severe nightly stomach pains. He had some constipation, so we chalked it up to that. When things didn’t improve I brought Teddy to the ER at Lurie’s Children’s hospital in Chicago. Shortly after arriving and receiving an MRI, we were told Teddy had a tumor on his kidney. And the next day, the tumor was removed as well as his right kidney. A week later Teddy started radiation and chemo.
Teddy has gone through 7 days of Radiation and 22 weeks of Chemo (so far). He’s also had 2 blood transfusions throughout his treatment due to low hemoglobin. He has a hard time walking too far because of the chemo treatment (it sort of builds up in his joints and makes them painful). Other than that, he’s so resilient, happy, and brave.
Being diagnosed during a pandemic, we needed to be extra careful and protect his compromised immune system. Teddy’s still 4, so it’s still hard for him to grasp the gravity of cancer. His little brother, Auggie, was left wondering why Teddy couldn’t walk him into preschool or wasn’t around to play with him all the time. Teddy now suffers from nightmares every night and has a hard time falling asleep.
The good news is that Teddy is in the home stretch! He should be done with his cancer treatment by May and he moved into Auggie’s room and that has helped with his sleeping. Things are looking up!
When I heard the words “We have difficult news…” all I could think is I can’t watch our beloved son suffer. I just cannot do that, but Teddy has been so resilient and brave -even when he’s scared. His courage has given us courage. Early on in his treatment, when he was trying to talk himself into taking some icky tasting medicine, he said: “I’m going to do tough things and I’m going to be stronger because I did them.” This has been our mantra during his entire treatment and will live in us for a very long time.
Ian had just started daycare, it had been his second week going, and we had noticed his belly was a little too round. He was a little chubby so it was hard to tell if it was normal or not. After some days, we definitely thought it wasn’t normal, took him to the doctor and she stated it was because he was a chubby baby. The next day, took him to his daycare, when we picked him up, the daycare provider told us, she didn’t think his belly was normal and she had felt her belly and that his right side didn’t feel soft, it was as if there was something there. She told us, in order for the baby to be accepted the following days to daycare he needed a letter from the doctor stating; his belly was normal and was safe to return to the daycare facility. Since I had not much success with his regular doctor, I decided to take him to CHLA Emergency room, mind you, he had no symptoms of anything, no infections, no fevers, not throwing up, or diarrhea…absolutely no symptoms.
We walked into the emergency room with all 3 boys we have thinking they’ll just tell us he has gas or maybe constipation or something simple that would explain the lump or hardness on his right side, at plain sight he was the happiest and most healthy boy you’ve seen inside an ER.
Time passed, they did all the tests necessary, and the doctor, just by looking at him, could see there was something not normal about his belly. Then after hours of anxiously waiting for results, the doctor comes in and tells my oldest 8-year-old son to leave the room. That’s the moment we went numb and everything went pitch dark for a second.
It wasn’t a lump, it was a mass growing from his right kidney. He needed his right kidney along with the tumor to be removed immediately so they can do the biopsy and determine what it was. After more time at the hospital and testing, he was diagnosed with Wilms Tumor Cancer.
Fortunately, it was caught in time thanks to the daycare provider and the prompt work of the CHLA oncology division. He underwent 6 months of chemotherapy treatment, he is now in remission and doing his revisions.
While in treatment, I had somehow found this website and loved everything about it. At the time, I couldn’t really find the strength to even say my son has/ had cancer. Today I’m so grateful he is doing great and wouldn’t want to discredit anything he went through at such a young age. He is my ultimate superhero.
