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.
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