Honored Kid

Haley V.

Age 8
Haley V. Kid Photo

Location

Ethan, SD, US

Diagnosis

Neuroblastoma

Date of Diagnosis

March 2017

Status

No evidence of disease

Treated At

Memorial Sloan Kettering Sanford Children's Hospital

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My Story

As of yet...there has been nothing scarier than watching our little girl, of only 9 months, struggling to breath. We knew that Haley had caught something...and it had a hold of her pretty good. We ended up in the emergency room at Sanford in SF TWICE. The first time they thought perhaps that we could "tough it out" at home but the following night proved otherwise. Her breathing became more and more labored and we knew that if something happened at home we wouldn't have time to drive all the way back to SF. So....back to the ER we went. This time they agreed that her breathing had become more labored and needed to be admitted to the Castle. During the process of checking her out, they decided to take a nasal swab and a chest xray. They ended up taking 3 xrays because the radiologist saw something and wanted to see it from a different angle. When we got back to the room, the doctor came in and told us that Haley did in fact have RSV and that while the xray showed that she did not have pneumonia, the radiologist had found a "mass" hiding behind Haley's right lung. That began our family's journey with Pediatric Cancer.  THE LAST thing on any family's radar, instantly became enemy #1.    Haley's cancer was Neuroblastoma. She had a tumor (about the size of a slightly flattened tennis ball) behind her right lung and pressing along her spine. Haley underwent 4 rounds of chemotherapy at Sanford Children's hospital in Sioux Falls (had to stop because she was allergic to the main chemo drug) and then traveled to New York to have the tumor removed by Dr. LaQuaglia (the # 1 neuroblastoma surgeon in the world). We are over 5 years out now and while Dr. LaQuaglia said he got it all...as any cancer parent will tell you....you will forever sleep with one eye open when it comes to cancer and your children.    

The Childhood Cancer Ripple Effect

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