His pregnancy was a rough road, but my son, Luke, finally made it into the world on October 31, 2008. Our little pumpkin baby was happy and healthy. One day in late August of 2009, our sweet-mannered boy became grumpy and wouldn't eat or drink. His belly became distended overnight so off to the ER we went. The ER doc told us no worries, it was probably a twisted bowel or something was stuck causing all the chaos. We were admitted for fluids as he was dehydrated. Not too long after the x-ray to determine what the problem was, one of the wonderful nurses on the pediatrics floor came in to get his vitals. She parted by saying the pediatric oncologist would be in to discuss his x-ray. Wait, we thought... doesn't oncologist mean cancer doctor? The next few days were a whirlwind of surgeries and discussion of protocols and timelines. Our baby had a Stage 2 Wilm's Tumor on his kidney. They ended up removing his whole kidney as the tumor had wrapped around it. Two and a half pounds lighter coming out of surgery, Lukey was such a strong little guy. The doctors had asked if it was ok to take some samples of his lymph nodes for research, and of course we said yes. If we could help someone else in all of this craziness, then go for it! We got a call a few days after we had been released from the hospital that the cancer had spread to his lymph nodes, and he was now considered Stage 3 and needed radiation. He battled through the radiation like a champ. Eleven years later, he's a happy, athletic, bright, loving, empathetic, and HEALTHY 11 year old. He helped us through that time with his love and smiles. He will forever be my hero!

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Written by his mom, Stacy