When Sydney was born, she was perfect – healthy and beautiful. she was everything you could ever want in a child and more. Shortly after her second birthday and after a month of cold-like symptoms followed by some pain in her legs, we discovered a grapefruit-sized tumor in her abdomen. Our family’s world came crashing down. Sydney was diagnosed with stage IV neuroblastoma, a deadly cancer with no known cause or cure. In the days to come, we would learn that Sydney had between a 15% and 25% chance at survival. From that moment on, our lives would become a roller coaster of feelings and emotion.

Over the next four years of our journey, Sydney would endure over nine rounds of high-dose chemotherapy, multiple surgeries, a stem cell transplant, 12 rounds of radiation and an unending barrage of painful immunotherapy and maintenance chemotherapy. We would travel back and forth across the country to receive treatment, and along the way we would meet hundreds of others who were on our same path. Unfortunately, Sydney would lose many friends to neuroblastoma.

Today Sydney is in the 2nd grade. For some reason, we have been given the gift and privilege of her life.  Today she is in remission, but we know her future holds no guarantees.  More than half of those that achieve remission will relapse and most of those will eventually succumb to the disease.  These children deserve better.