Dax’s story began towards the end of April 2020, when his parents noticed the shells of his ears were crimson red. His Fitbit was reading an accelerated heartbeat of 130 beats per minute, but his blood pressure was extremely low. Dax was prescribed antibiotics and told to wait four or five days to see if any changes occurred.
That lasted two days. At 2 am the morning of May 9th, 2020, Dax woke up with his face completely swollen, crimson in colour, and having difficulty breathing.
On July 13, Brianna found a lump on the inside of her left thigh. Bloodwork was done at their local hospital’s ER, with the family returning the next day for an x-ray and ultrasound. The following morning they were on their way to Children’s Hospital to meet with a paediatric oncologist, not really knowing what was happening. They were given the news that Brianna more than likely had cancer and tests began.
Ashton was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma on his 17th Birthday. The next day he was in surgery, having his port fitted, and started chemotherapy the day after that. Ashton spent the next 8 months in hospital except for 4 days a month at home. During part of that time, Ashton had his leg amputated through the knee. 30 rounds of chemotherapy later, in April 2022, Ashton stood up smiling to ring the gong. He was cancer free.
My name is Justin Jewell. I am 20 years old, from Belle River, ON. I am an AML survivor of three years and a stem cell recipient. I am a musician and music has been my life-long passion. I was given my first guitar at the age of four and carried it with me everywhere I went. Growing up I would entertain my family and friends, and when I was old enough, I started making a name for myself in the local Windsor music scene.
Hello, my name is Sara and I am 19 years old. This is my story.
When I was three years old, I was diagnosed with a metastasized pineoblastoma, which is a rare type of brain tumour. My parents were heartbroken because the doctors didn’t think I would survive. I had emergency brain surgery in London. Then I was transferred to SickKids in Toronto for further brain surgery and I was enrolled in a research study for treatment.
The summer of 2016 started normal. I was 5 years old, and I enjoyed playing outside, swimming, hanging out with my cousins, and soccer, as a normal 5-year-old would. I remember having family pictures with my whole extended family on my mom’s side. The weather was beautiful, the sun shining bright at Waterworks Park in St. Thomas.
A picture of Batman hangs proudly on Brad’s office wall. It’s not just any picture of Batman, it’s him as a young child, dressed in full Batman costume, mask and all. It was Brad’s preferred outfit at any time, especially at the hospital. Brad remembers wearing that costume nearly the whole time he was in treatment.
Everything has a silver lining. It’s all about how you look at things.
“Finger pricks meant I could add to my finger puppet collection. Hospital visits meant playtime and art therapy. Losing my hair meant choosing a wig - having had short brown hair, I wanted to try something different, like long blonde Rapunzel hair, but relented, taking my dad’s advice, I went with a more natural look so people would still recognize me.”
Luke was a happy one year old when he started showing signs of joint pains, stiff arms and legs. He was in and out of the emergency room for months. It was at one of those visits, not long after Luke’s second birthday, when everything suddenly changed. The doctors decided to send Luke to London Children’s Hospital for further tests. Dad and son were airlifted from Thunder Bay, with Mom following a few days later. Luke’s 4 year-old-sister Petra stayed with her grandparents.
In London, Luke was subjected to a series of tests. He saw many doctors, including a neurologist and a rheumatologist for suspected arthritis. It was the haematologist who found the problem, hiding in Luke’s bones. High-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
How to entertain your child while they are in a hospital bed wasn’t a question that Tracy had ever asked herself. Why would she? Dracen was always healthy…
In mid-August 2022 Dracen started throwing up in the morning. They took him to the doctors, and despite multiple tests, nothing was found. After a trip to the Emergency Room they were sent home with laxatives and anti-nausea medication. Nothing changed. Dracen was still vomiting 18-20 times per day.
After three weeks, spent in Windsor hospital as Dracen was so sick, Tracy called the patient advocate and pushed for an MRI…which found a tumour on Dracen’s brainstem. The family immediately drove to London to meet with the brain surgeon who had to get as much as possible of the tumour out, or risk it growing back. Pathology determined that it was a posterior fossa ependymoma.
My name is Kaitlyn and I am a three-time childhood cancer survivor and now paediatric oncology nurse. Here is my story:
In December of 1998, my parents say I had complained about a sore stomach. At the time they were potty training me and also thought the tummy pains could be a result of me racing down the stairs on my stomach at Oma & Opa’s with my younger sister.
Shortly after a trip to the emergency department, I was diagnosed with stage 4 Wilms tumour, a rare childhood cancer affecting the kidney. I had my left kidney removed and a kinked bowel repaired before receiving the first round of chemo on Christmas Day. After numerous rounds of chemo I started radiation in July 1999. On March 31, 2000, I finished chemo forever! Or so we thought.
Dominic was born on January 1, 2023, as Owen Sound hospital’s New Year’s baby. A first son for Ryan and Katt and baby brother to 3-year-old sister Blake.
For the first few months of his life, Dominic met his milestones, took his place in the busy household, and captured the hearts of friends and family. Around the third month it was noticed that Dominic’s one leg had grown significantly larger than the other and he was sent to London for genetic testing as his doctor queried Beckwith-Wiedermann syndrome (BWS). BWS comes with a risk of tumour growth, so he would be followed and monitored through his childhood. (As it turns out, the genetic testing would show that Dominic was negative for this syndrome).
In June 2012, young six-year-old Michael was diagnosed with T Cell ALL leukemia and relapsed in 2014 at the age of eight. During Michael’s relapse, his family was notified that he would need a bone marrow transplant to prevent the cancer from returning again. Finding a donor was not going to be easy, and they went on a global search. Each member of Michael’s family was tested to see if they could be an eligible match. After many prayers, they discovered that Michael’s older brother Sam was a perfect match. That was truly a miracle in the family’s life. The bone marrow match was successful and has been cancer free for nine years. During this time the family relied on faith, community, and Childcan.
ON FEBRUARY 25, 2020, only 6 days shy of her first birthday, my baby girl Claire Bear was rushed to the hospital after an urgent phone call from our family doctor. I remember that day vividly. I see it play back in my mind as if I were standing in the corner of the room. I heard words but could not process them, while I stood there holding Claire, as if putting her down somehow meant I would never be able to pick her up again. The doctor said words like blast cells, oncology, hematology, bone marrow, transfer, and critical. Then, almost as if the world stopped, she said the words no parents ever want to hear, “we think your child has cancer, I’m so sorry.” In that instant our lives changed forever. We were transferred to Children’s Hospital at London Health Sciences Centre and admitted that night. How we made it through that night of waiting and worrying remains a mystery to me.
Being 4 years old should be fun. Playing and games should be the norm, not doctors visits and hospitals.
It wasn’t long after Matteo’s 4th birthday that he started getting sick. Very sick.
His Mom knew something was wrong, but doctors, pediatricians, nor the hospital could find anything wrong. His belly still hurt. An ultrasound was done and he was sent home from the hospital. They were back the next day as he was dehydrated. IVs. More tests. Multiple phone calls to multiple doctors. Stomach aches, crying, puking, no sleep. X-rays, bloodwork, urgent care visits both in Chatham and London.
Finally, one doctor said: “These could be signs and symptoms of a brain tumour.”
In the spring of 2021, our eight-year-old son, Benjamin, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. He was immediately admitted to London Childrens Hospital for treatment at the height of the Covid pandemic and our lives were turned upside down. We had three other children at home and I had no idea how our family was going to make it through this.
On the third day of our hospital stay Renee walked into Ben's hospital room and introduced herself. She was soft spoken, gentle, and had the kindest eyes that showed such understanding and compassion for our pain. She told me that she was the mom of a childhood cancer survivor and handed me a bag. Little did I know at the time that bag was the beginning of Childcan's pivotal role in our lives. The bag contained a handmade quilt, hospital parking pass, gas and grocery gift cards, activities for Ben, hospital meal vouchers, and information about Childcan.
Kevin has the coolest job. He flies puppies with champion bloodlines to their grateful new owners in both Canada and the United States. Kevin is 20 years old and has beat cancer twice. He shares his story to inspire other people in the same way that he has been inspired.
At twelve years of age, Kevin was in transition. Transition from a love of playing soccer to a love of playing basketball. Transition from playing sports with friends outdoors to being forced indoors and feeling a growing sense of isolation. “I did something that upset my parents, I was grounded and had to be indoors. My neighbourhood friends would tease me by flaunting the basketball or kickball games that they would play without me, which is when I discovered that video games were a pretty good pastime. In retrospect, it was good practice for what lay ahead”.
Kaynat is a well travelled young lady. She grew up in Africa where her Mom worked for the United Nations, moving to Canada from Indonesia in 2019. Kaynat was not happy to move to Canada, in fact, her depression saved her life.
Kaynat moved to Canada when she was 14 years old to be reunited with her father who had been living in Montreal for the previous 6 years. Leaving her other friends and family behind in Indonesia, Kaynat fell into a deep depression. She faked headaches so that she didn’t have to go to school. One day, she couldn’t move her left arm. The nurse at the emergency room said that there was nothing wrong but Kaynat’s Mom, Arny, said ‘this is not a normal sickness’ and fought for an MRI which showed a darkness on the brain.
During the otherwise normal summer of 2019, Lauren’s family noticed that she wasn’t her usual energetic four-year-old self. She was always up for playing and wasn’t afraid to go for a tumble, but she had some excessive and unexplained bruises, particularly on her legs, as well as a pale complexion. Her mom, Liz, was concerned and felt it best to take her to the doctor to get checked. Her mother’s intuition proved to be right.
The next day, Lauren’s dad, Rick, was at work when Liz relayed the unforgettable news: Lauren’s doctor had called and told the family to get to Children’s Hospital as soon as possible—there was a very good chance that Lauren had leukemia.
