On April 4th, 2007, our lives were forever changed. It was then that we first heard the word Neuroblastoma. Kate was 10 months old at the time. Over the next few days, we learned that her cancer was Stage 4 and had spread from the baseball size primary tumor in her abdomen throughout her body. She had multiple soft tissue lesions in her skull, near her eyes and by her diaphragm. The cancer had invaded her bones and bone marrow. We soon learned that Neuroblastoma was rare and one of the deadliest forms of pediatric cancer.
Fortunately, Kate was very young and her cancer was “non-amplified” – giving her better odds of responding favorably to chemotherapy. Oncologists don’t know why patients under 18 months of age have a higher chance of surviving this disease. They also don’t know what causes it and they don’t have many treatment options.
Kate endured a lot of pain, severe distention, eight rounds of chemotherapy, four surgeries, numerous scans and tests, many nights in the hospital, complete hair loss and more than two months on a completely fat-free diet. All of this occurred before she was 18 months old. In October of 2007, she finally scanned clean and her treatment was complete. We’ll never rest easy though. Neuroblastoma relapses are common and Kate will be closely monitored. In April 2008, she will undergo her six month post-treatment scans ~ we continue to hope and pray that she has beaten this monster of a disease for good.
Thank you so much for sponsoring the “Running for Kate” team. The CNCF is an non-profit organization dedicated to raising money to find the cause and cure for Neuroblastoma. They also provide information and educational support for families with a child who has Neuroblastoma.
