Hi , My name is Debbie, my daughter Jessica has a Wilms tumor. We have a Shitzu (dog) named Gizmo. Jess is our only child. My husband's name is Robbie. I am a nurse/manager for a Cardiology group, my former job was 10 years in Adult oncology, (can you believe that?). My dh is a homicide detective for our local police dept. Being a nurse helped me get through some of the tough times (mostly understanding what was happening) but all my nursing experience "left my head" when I found out my child had cancer. Jessica, The Cowgirl - jul/97 On Aug.15,1997, on a routine 5 year old check-up and pre-kindergarten physical, while palpating Jessica's abdomen, our pediatrician found a large "mass". She had NO symptoms! We were immediately sent for an abdominal ultrasound. This confirmed it to be a tumor, but they were unsure if it was a Wilms tumor or a Neuroblastoma. Arrangements were made for us to be at Medical College Of Virginia at 6:00 am the next morning for more tests. Cat scans confirmed it to be a Wilms tumor in her left kidney. It also confirmed that she has "multiple "small nodules scattered within both lungs. Surgery could not be done until the 19th. Jessica - Christmas 97 Between the 16th and the day of surgery, the tumor apparently ruptured through the kidney, attached to the spleen, and her diaphragm. The surgeon was able to "peel" the tumor off the spleen, but had to resect the diaphragm, thus causing Jessica to need to be on the respirator for a week. There was nothing that could be resected from the lungs because of the "scattered" small tumors in both lungs. They gave us a choice of chemo and radiation, or just chemo and "wait and see what happens to the lungs". We opted to go full force. Jessica - april/98 Jessica started radiation treatments 5 days later and the chemo on post op day 6. She had a very complicated hospital course, pancreatitis, developed a stress ulcer, and had 2 bowel obstructions, which needed to be fixed surgically. She stayed in the hospital for 1 month! Through all of this, Jessica only complained once about being in the hospital, and that was because she missed her dog (a friend snuck him into the hospital in a large tote bag). The chemo and the radiation were hard for her to understand, but when I explained it all to her, she never cried, nor put up a fuss about going so often for treatments. She had long, strawberry blonde hair, and we thought it would bother her that it fell out, but she took it with a grain of salt. Jessica and Mom - may/98 She is quite special, when we left the hospital after a second stay for a line infection, she gave all her stuffed animals that people had brought her to the nurses on the ped.onc floor to give to other children, "because she really didn't need them". She has given me a lot of strength through all of this. She has completed 8 months of chemo, and 1 month of radiation, and her latest scans have been "negative". We are so very thankful our pediatrician found this when he did!!! Gizmo and Jessica - june/98
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