I have personal experience with childhood cancer, so it hits home for me and it’s a cause that I have become passionate about just in the last year. My story is a success story, it has a happy ending. Mine is a unique story because the cure didn’t come after a long-fought struggle, and mine is an important story because my son Sam is the exception to the norm – he is one of the lucky few to have gotten treatment while his cancer was in early Stage 1. My son had none of the painful signs of cancer – none of the aches, pains, swelling, wheezing, fevers – none. He was in for a routine ultrasound of his kidneys to monitor an unrelated condition. The ultrasound tech noticed a mass on in the area of his right adrenal gland (just above the kidney) and immediately ordered a more thorough CT Scan to see if there were any other masses and ordered blood work to see if it has spread to his blood. We had a surgery consult the following week to talk course of action. The surgeon told us we could wait 6 weeks or pull it out to diagnose that week. My wife and I opted to pull it out and we are so thankful that we did. We took our 5-month old baby Sam into surgery to have his right adrenal gland removed along with the mass growing around it the following week. A couple hours later the surgeon came out with the update – Sam was a trooper, he did great, we pulled out the mass and identified it as Neuroblastoma. The tumor was 100% removed and we continue to go in for quarterly CT scans and blood work to monitor for any other cancer. We continue to go to the hospital for tests, but the happy ending is that the tumor was removed and that nothing has come back…yet anyways. Sam did not need chemotherapy, he did not need multiple surgeries, he is a very happy and healthy little man today. I am asking for your donations today to help the kids that aren’t so lucky. Identifying Sam’s cancer would have been delayed if not for a very thorough ultrasound tech who moved her wand just a little farther than the area of concern. Having spent time in Pediatric Oncology at Monroe Carroll Children's Hosptial, I have seen the kids that aren’t so lucky and I feel deeply for them. They endure painful treatments and multiple surgeries to hopefully, one day, be one of the lucky ones. Some are too young to be aware of what’s happening or why, all of them are too young to be asked to be strong enough to fight as hard as they’re fighting. As Sam’s daddy, I am a passionate advocate for finding a cure for cancer in children. My ask for today is that you give what you can, if you can, for the kids who aren’t so lucky. Thank you!

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