Day 1:
I’m going throw it back to a post we wrote at the beginning of childhood cancer awareness month in 2014.
Today we continue Shane’s fight.
He should be here.
He would be excited to start his first day of Kindergarten at the same school as his siblings.
Cancer took that moment and so many countless ones away from us.
This month, Go Gold for the kids. Share their stories. Remember their smiles and help us work on their legacies.
#SFD #HelpShaneFightCancer #ARMSaware
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This is our family celebrating September 1, 2014. Today is not only Labor Day, but it is the start to childhood cancer awareness month. This time last year I would have had no idea about it either. It’s like they say, you never think it will happen to you and then it does.
We join millions of families in this emotional journey. We fight for our children as they become little heroes, warriors. We hold them as they endure their sedations, surgeries, biopsies, chemo, and for some radiation. They are still little and young and may not feel as though their voices are being heard. That is why we have to help them find their voice, be their voice and draw attention to their cause.
That little guy in the picture is our Shane Metzgar. He was 8 months old when diagnosed with stage 4 Alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma or rhabdo or ARMS for short. It is a vicious beast and was caused by a gene translocation. We have no idea when the tumor started, but it doubled in size from it’s initial discovery to his diagnosis.
Shane’s diagnosis was a grim day- March 28, 2014. No one ever wants to hear their child has cancer, but you most definitely don’t want to hear “we were afraid it was this cancer,” poor prognosis, and only 1 in 10 survive. You see, rhabdo is treatable, but it comes back.
We are determined to remain hopeful and positive. We live each day for him and keeping our family whole. Some days are easier than others. We take one day at a time and can’t make plans like we used to because everything is pretty much dictated by his treatment schedule and how he is feeling. Some people get it, some don’t. We are just trying to be normal, but real in our situation. My husband and I look at each other and say “I can’t believe we are going through this.” We both then add “everyday until we beat it.”
So, even though we are still considered new to the journey we are in it forever. Cancer messed with the wrong family. We are determined to create something that will be lasting. We still need time to sort that out.
In the meantime, we encourage everyone to take a stand and spread the word about childhood cancer- the least funded cancer research by the government.
#HelpShaneFightCancer