Molly was diagnosed with Stage 2 Wilms' Tumor at 3 weeks old.
On
September 22, 2007 I delivered what looked to me like a perfectly
healthy baby. After delivery, during a routine check her pediatrician
felt a slight abnormality in her abdomen. He expressed his concern, but
I wasn't really worried - what could be wrong? She looked like a
perfect little angel to me! The day she was released from the hospital
her doctor sent her for an ultrasound. The ultrasound revealed a large
tumor fully encapsulating her right kidney. We were told her kidney
would need to be removed, but not to worry. We were told how extremely
rare it is for a baby to be born with cancer. The biopsy, however,
showed the tumor was cancerous - Stage 2 Wilms' Tumor. The oncologists
told us we won the lottery of cancers because Wilms' was so well
researched. When your newborn is diagnosed with cancer you don't feel
like you won anything...especially not a lottery, but 5 years later I
know we did. Molly is a happy healthy kindergartner with 4.5 years
"cancer free" under her belt.
It's a tough road for even the
"lucky" cancer families like us. We struggled. We feared, but we made
it through. What I can never get over, though, is what I have
seen...the families that didn't win the lottery. Their children's
cancers have not been researched well, because most haven't. Going to
clinic each week and seeing children waste away will always weigh on my
mind and heart. If children have to get cancer shouldn't they at least
be given a fighting chance? My daughter is proof that research saves
lives. I have no doubt that it did. Cures and alternate therapies are
out there - we just need to find them! Please do what you can to join
the fight against children's cancer.
