Keagen and Cancer

My nephew Keagen was diagnosed with neuroblastoma on August 29, 2008 at the age of 21 months. Keagen is one of four kids with big brothers Triston (5 years), Seth (4 years), and twin sister Kaileigh. He is my big sister, Laura's little baby boy.

Neuroblastoma is a solid tumor childhood cancer. Keagen's is a large tumor in his abdomen that has wound it's way around many of his internal organs. He is currently undergoing chemotherapy to try to shrink the tumor so that it can safely be surgically removed (or most of it can be anyway). So far Keagen has finished 2 rounds of chemo, and they're being pretty rough so far. Keagen has already lost his hair, but he has a beautiful round head, so he can pull it off. He also struggles with getting fevers which has caused him and mommy to be spending lots of time in the hospital when they would rather be home. We also got the bad news this week that even after these 2 aggressive rounds of chemo, Keagen's tumor still has not shrank. He starts his 3rd round of chemo on October 10th and they should be changing some of the drugs that are given and hopefully we'll see some progress with these ones.

After the chemo shrinks the tumor enough so that it can be removed, Keagen will have surgery to remove as much of the tumor as possible. Keagen will then have a stem cell transplant (his own stem cells are being withdrawn today and will be reinserted back into him following a massive chemo which would not be possible without his own stem cells to keep him alive and kicking). Keagen will more than likely have radiation following this as well. Of course, this is all months away. Right now we're concentrating on getting the tumor shrunken enough to be removed.

A benefit for Keagen and his family is being held November 9, 2008 at Brewster's Lanes in Reedsburg, WI. It's going to be such a fun day with bowling, prizes, raffles, bake sale, DJ, etc. The medical bills will most certainly be daunting for Laura and Dewayne and we want to do as much as we can to help them financially as well as emotionally.

Keep on praying for sweet Keagen. He really is just the sweetest little guy you'd ever see and I can't wait to see him all better after kicking cancer's butt!