"You're son has cancer. Neuroblastoma is the type of cancer he has."    -Words no parent could ever be prepared to hear. 

 

On July 29th, 2020 my son Ahmari was diagnosed with stage 3 high risk Neuroblastoma. A tumor the size of a small football located on his right adrenal gland, kidney, and some lymph nodes surrounding the area. After what feels like 1000 trips back and forth to Syracuse, numerous hospital stays, some for weeks at a time and some just for a few days,  he has completed 6 rounds of induction chemotherapy. On October 30, 2020 he also underwent a very long, intense and difficult 6 hour resection surgery in which the surgeon was able to remove 90%-95% of the tumor, but also had to remove his right kidney and adrenal gland. Unfortunately, there were 2 pieces of tumor tissue that he had to leave untouched due to the location. Both were on his vena cava artery near his liver and the surgeon felt it was safest to just leave them untouched. However, he did reassure us that he was 99% positive that those pieces weren't living cancer cells and just necrotic tissue his body hadn't gotten rid of yet. 

So, now here we are.. January 2021!! 5 months has passed since hearing those dreadful words from a doctor I had never met before that moment, explaining a diagnosis for my child I never would've ever imagined hearing in my lifetime. However, to look at him physically, other than the smooth baby soft bald head that once had hair, a scar the goes across his whole belly, and his little bump over his heart where his central line access port is positioned just under his skin, you would never know this little boy is battling cancer. He has endured more in 5 months than most people do in their lifetime. We have faced plenty of complications, had quite a few scares that led us to the PICU for a few days, and bumped heads with a few doctors along the way and definitely voiced some not so nice words to some nurses(Mama bear doesn't play about her baby🤬). I have had more sleepless nights than I'd like to count,  staring out the windows of the 11G unit with tears rolling down my face just looking up at the sky asking WHY!?! It's been a very challenging, scary, very emotional, and very stressful road so far and it's far from over but he's here, he's alive, and he's fighting. He has faced this battle head on and has proved to be by far the strongest person I have ever known. There isn't a single person that has had the pleasure of meeting Ahmari that doesn't fall in love with his silly personality, or his beautiful smile. He touches everyone's heart in one way or another. He is the light to any dark room. He is the sunshine to any rainy day. He is the laughter that drowns out any sadness. He is my absolute truest definition of perfection. He is my hero.