Oliver was born with hemihyperplasia (one leg was bigger than the other). It was very noticeable as a baby but we can barely notice a difference now. He had a predisposition to getting certain cancers but it was still a very small chance. He got a routine ultrasound of his abdomen done as a screening method for a tumor. We did notice that his appetite had decreased. They noticed it and called to tell us to go to the ER right away so that he could be admitted as an inpatient to undergo a port-a-cath placement, CT scans, and receive his first doses of chemotherapy.
Oliver has been through a lot. He received chemotherapy, and lots of different medications (he despises them). He had kidney failure and was on dialysis (the darkest time of our lives). He has spent over 40 nights in the hospital all together. He had surgery to remove the tumor from his kidney and then finished chemotherapy.
It was so hard on all of us but our 8-year-old daughter had a very hard time at first. Our family was separated for the first time (mom and Oliver were always at the hospital and she and dad were at home). She woke up with multiple panic attacks for the first couple of months.
We now have to go get scans every three months to make sure the cancer doesn’t return. It’s hard on all of us. We have a lot of anxiety but we also are trying to live life a little bit more full.
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