Toby was a very healthy and athletic 14-year-old. He had NO symptoms when he was diagnosed with cancer. He had a football injury that ultimately led to a CT scan. By the grace of God, we were able to discover a football-sized mass in his chest. Toby went through chemotherapy & proton radiation. He received a diagnosis of remission in December 2019.
All of Toby’s labs & testing were looking great and he was moving forward. During his 1-year post-treatment scans in August 2019, they discovered the mass was active and he received a diagnosis of relapsed Hodgkins Lymphoma. Toby was devastated. He had to fight again and still hadn’t started high school.
For his Sophomore year of high school, he was fighting for his life for the second time. After the grueling chemotherapy stays in the hospital, Toby finally got the second diagnosis of remission in October 2019. He had to move forward with a bone marrow transplant. Toby was able to have an autologous bone marrow transplant in November 2019. After a month-long stay in the hospital, he was able to come home just in time for Christmas. In January of 2020, Toby started his immunotherapy, and finally, this was his end of treatment in November 2020.
Our family is just trying to heal from all the trauma the past few years. We just want to move forward and learn from this experience. We’ve become a very strong family even more so than before Toby’s journey. Along with Toby’s cancer, I had also been diagnosed with cancer in 2020. Then a pandemic was thrown in there. We have been through some rough storms, but we try to just take one day at a time and try to enjoy all the little things.
Toby rarely if not at all felt sorry for himself. He never wanted or wants anyone to feel sorry for him or treat him differently. He holds his head high with such grace. He feels so much empathy for all children and young adults going through a cancer journey. His ultimate goal is to become a mentor for teens facing the same challenges he had and is still facing. He’s not only strong physically but he is strong enough to face and experience cancer. He’s a true survivor and will fight whatever comes his way.
Hope session by Meg Elizabeth Photography | Facebook | Instagram