Adan’s Story, as told by his mother, Carolina

Everyone has a defining moment in life. For myself, that defining moment was on September 10, 2007, as I listened to doctors inform me that my nine-month-old baby had a rare and potentially deadly form of cancer called neuroblastoma. They were words no parent would ever want to hear.

Adan, my son, underwent bone marrow biopsies, surgery, chemotherapy, CT-Scans, MIBG scans, x-rays and numerous MRIs before his first birthday.

Today we continue our hopeful battle with this disease, and at 18 months of age he is thankfully doing great. The doctors tell us that his chances of coming out of the cancer are very high and that they expect him to be fine in the long run.

Pediatric cancers have become very dear to my heart, not only because of my own son but also because of the many young children I have seen struggling with cancer each time we have gone to the hospital. Many of these children are high-risk patients who have a 30% chance of survival, some less. It is devastating to see any infant or child have to go through so much at such a young age.

More research is desperately needed in pediatric cancers to increase the odds of survival and help bring hope and a future to all of our children battling cancer.