The happiest, strongest, most determined, angelic little guy I’ve ever known…
Anthony was born no different than any other child, growing and developing at a normal pace, according to all of his doctors. He was such a joy, adventurous, loving, and creative little person. He loved to dance, sing, eat, and get dirty like most little boys. The room would fill with so much love when he entered, and it didn’t matter if it was his own family or complete strangers. His presence would leave people with a huge smile and a feeling of joy and happiness. This little boy was angelic from birth. However, devastation hit 13 months into his life, Anthony went into cardiac arrest with no answers as to why, leaving him completely paralyzed.
“He will be a complete vegetable for the rest of his life” (a complete vegetable, were the choice of words the Doctors used). “Anthony will never walk again, he is clueless due to the lost of oxygen to the brain, leaving him completely brain damaged.”
The doctors were at a loss for an explanation and couldn’t pinpoint the issue. They treated Anthony like a science project, running numerous tests, poking, and using “this and that” on him for about four years. Initially, they sent us home and wrote it off as Cerebral Palsy.
From Wikipedia:
The definition of cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of permanent movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary between people. Often problems include: poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, trouble swallowing or speaking, and tremors among others. There may also be problems with sensation, vision, and hearing. Often babies with CP do not roll over, sit, crawl, or walk as early as other children their age. Difficulty with the ability to think or reason and seizures each occurs in about one third of cases. While the symptoms may get more noticeable over the first few years of life, the underlying problems do not worsen over time.
During those four years, Anthony’s liveliness did increase. After the cardiac arrest, he was in shock for about a year and didn’t smile, not even once… until the love and persistence of his mother, grandmother and family, helped him prevail.
Anthony went to physical, speech, occupational therapy, and other special programs in school. Everything taught in those therapies were duplicated at home. We wanted nothing more than this unknown ailment to leave him. Anthony broke doctors expectations, improved so much. He was able to eat on his own again and take his feeding and g-tube out. He was able to stand, lift his head, and not to mention smile and laugh again! The quality of his life started to have a sense of normalcy. His mother and family worked hard to help improve the quality of his life daily, day in and day out. Going about life in a normal way, although things were far from it and there were still no answers. We took family trips often. Anthony was comforted with stimulation, walks, going to the park, toys, clothing, food, and much more, as any child would love to do. We tried our best with what we knew to do.
The diagnosis never truly added up with all of Anthony’s symptoms and the way it happened. After his mother and grandmother did tons of research to find some answers, they were skeptical about the doctors diagnosis. And sure enough… more health issues arose.
On April 2, 2007 after a heartbreaking four and a half year struggle with no answers, in a confused phase with his diagnosis of CP, we had hopes of helping Anthony regain his function and quality of life back.
Then, just 10 days shy of this little soldiers 5th birthday, a gut-wrenching, heartbreaking, destructing, evil diagnosis, that all mothers, grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, ever dread hearing, “you have terminal cancer” or in this case “your child has cancer that is going to take his life; Anthony only has three months to live”. Can you imagine the pain? The hurt? The hopelessness? Can you imagine the emotions of a mother? The emotions of anyone that loves someone so deeply?
Screaming and crying at the top of her lungs, his mother wept with sorrow like she had already lost her little bundle of joy. The betrayal one feels, from every angle, not knowing how to handle this feeling.The nights gradually got harder, coddling her baby boy but not always being able to comfort him was stressful, draining and unbearable. Due to his mother and family trying to persistently comfort Anthony, sleep lessened, trips back and forth to the hospital increased, going for either chemotherapy or for an emergency visit. Still, there was no way of truly being able to help the discomfort and pain this little warrior endured.
Through it all, he still managed to find his powerful calming smile of joy!
He lived almost two years, which was far longer than doctors expected. He went through so much, chemotherapy, pills, drugs, and many other things he had to consume. He had to try, he had to go through this, it wasn’t a choice. This cancer was so rare, the doctors had only diagnosed one other child at the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles that year. Doctors hadn’t dealt with this type of cancer before. Anthony went through more than words will ever be able to describe, and this post does no justice.
He wasn’t able to say much, so no one ever really knew what he was thinking, what he really needed, what he really wanted. We just knew, his spirit was so calm, sweet, precious, kind, loving, he was so strong, he was amazing. Though the strength of this little boy was so touching and empowering, he lost his battle to this terrible disease, Neuroblastoma. Neuroblastoma mutilated him. It disfigured the beautiful, handsome, precious, flawless, perfect little boy.
(This photo was taken when MAKE A WISH FOUNDATION showered him with gifts and VIP extra special treatment at the park.)
He had an angelic, glorified, porcelain look. He made the ladies go crazy. They loved him! Young, old, mid-age. He impacted many people in his life. Many are still touched to this day. Especially those that loved him most. Who would have known a love ran so deep.
Through all the pain, he laughed and smiled. The message we believe Anthony left is: “Despite what it is you are going through, smile and be happy. For the pain helps you endure, makes you strong to carry on. Laughter brings joy. Keep joy near, for whatever it is, WHATEVER it is, know that he is near.”
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Parents, whom have watched their children fight for their lives. You must stand to fight back. Anyone, close or distant that you know has fought this terrible disease. Cancer. It doesn’t matter the category! There are a WIDE variety of sicknesses that can take over the human function of the body. It could be from improper care, or health, unknown, natural causes, or from birth. We don’t know WHEN it will strike, WHO it will strike and WHAT it will do. But, don’t FEAR cancer. FIGHT it!
(Below)Infant with STAGE 4S Neuroblastoma and respiratory distress from hepatomegaly due to tumor infiltration.
(other photos are a few children that lost their lives to cancer) Neuroblastoma Neuroblastoma is a rare disease in which a solid tumor (a lump or mass caused by uncontrolled or abnormal cell growth) is formed by special nerve cells called neuroblasts. Normally, these immature cells grow and mature into functioning nerve cells. But in neuroblastoma, they become cancer cells instead. Neuroblastoma most commonly starts in the tissue of the adrenal glands, the triangular glands on top of the kidneys that produce hormones responsible for controlling heart rate, blood pressure, and other important functions. Like other cancers, neuroblastoma can spread (metastasize) to other parts of the body, such as the lymph nodes, skin, liver, and bones.In a few cases, the tendency to get this type of cancer can be passed down from a parent to a child (familial type), but most cases of neuroblastoma (98%) aren’t inherited (sporadic type). It happens almost exclusively in infants and children, and is slightly more common in boys than in girls. Children diagnosed with neuroblastoma are usually younger than 5 years old, and most new cases occur in babies younger than 1 year old. About 700 new cases of neuroblastoma are diagnosed each year in the United States. Found on nant.org
The staging system (by degree of tumor spread) for neuroblastoma is shown above. All patients with stage 4 disease diagnosed after 18 months of age are in the high-risk category. In stage 4 disease, the neuroblastoma tumor cells have already spread (metastasized) to other sites in the body such as the bone or bone marrow. Additionally, essentially all patients who have tumors with many copies (“gene amplification”) of the cancer gene also have high-risk disease, even if they do not have evidence of the tumor having spread. It is accepted practice to treat high-risk neuroblastoma patients with intensive therapy (including stem cell transplant) because these patients are at high risk of not surviving their disease unless they receive very aggressive treatment.
Most pediatric oncologists agree that even with optimal current intensive therapy, the survival rate of such patients warrants entering as many of these children as possible on clinical trials that may identify improved forms of treatment for this aggressive tumor.
Team Priceless Love wants to make a meaningful difference in the fight against cancer. Almost everyone has been touched by Cancer, either through their own personal battle or through a loved one they know or sadly knew.
You can help us by donating to Anthony’s Story, to the American Cancer Society, Team Priceless Love, to help with the Relay for Life Event.
How will your donation be used.
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Where Does Your Money Go?
Well, The American Cancer Society is committed to saving lives and creating a world with more birthdays, while maintaining the highest standards of stewardship. At a glance, this infographic highlights the financial impact of the critical programs and platforms that allow The American Cancer Society to remain focused on our mission to help people stay well and get well, finding cures, and by fighting back.
A world with less cancer and more birthdays… PRICELESS!
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Thank you so much for taking the time to read this story.
For Anthony & All Affected, We Hate Cancer! 