John Russell was our happy, healthy, spunky little 2 year old prior to diagnosis. We had just returned home from a big family vacation at the beach when he got what we thought was a typical stomach virus. After the second day of not being able to hold any fluids down, we decided that I would take him to urgent care the following morning to get some fluids to ensure he didn’t suffer from dehydration. He did not sleep through the night though and started complaining of his side hurting. At this time, we began thinking he may have an appendicitis. However, around 6:00 that morning he had to go the bathroom and had blood in his urine. We knew we needed to get to the emergency room immediately but still thought it may be an appendicitis. Within an hour of getting to the ER, they told us he needed to be transported to Scottish Rite Atlanta for a CT scan. By 11:00 that evening, we knew he had a mass on his right kidney and it was speculated that it wa s Wilms. They scheduled an open biopsy a couple of days later in hopes that they could remove mass and kidney at same time. However, the tumor was too large to safely remove and the biopsy sample was not good enough to be conclusive of Wilms. We were then waiting on a needle biopsy to be conducted several days later. After a week and a half of waiting, the needle biopsy was a success and it was concluded that John Russell had stage 3 Wilms Favorable Histology. Due to the size of tumor, he is undergoing chemo treatment first to shrink it. They will re-scan him after 6 weeks and hopefully be able to remove it and the kidney at that time. He was dismissed from the hospital the day before his 3rd Birthday-having him home in his own bed was the biggest blessing! He was able to celebrate his birthday with friends and family at home. On February 12th, he finished his last chemo treatment! We continue to be blessed by wonderful family and friends that are helping us get through this! We are praying and have faith that God is (and has) healed him!

Every child who has been diagnosed with childhood cancer inspires us to Rally On to find better treatments with fewer long-term side effects and, ultimately, cures. Please join us in the fight against childhood cancer by making a donation or setting up your own Rally fundraiser today.