Kansas C. - Quilt Finished in 2008
Born: September 22, 2004
Illness: Bilateral Wilms Tumor
Kansas C.'s Story
Written by Kansas' mom Donna in November 2008
Kansas was born on Wednesday, September 22, 2004 weighing 7lbs. 15oz. She has one older sister and one older brother. From day one, Kansas was the best baby ever. She was always happy, always laughing, always smiling. She has been such a joy to everyone that knows her. Kansas is the type of child that loves everyone and never meets a stranger. She has a personality that everyone hopes for in their children. She is the most loving child and absolutely loves babies and baby dolls more than any child I’ve ever seen.
In February 2008, I had taken Kansas to the doctor because she had become so pale and had black circles around her eyes. She got like this almost overnight. They did blood work then and told us that some kids have low iron levels and Kansas was just one of those that did. They put her on this horrible iron medicine, but she continued to keep low iron levels. I’m a research fanatic when it comes to illnesses and medicines for my children. I just didn’t understand how Kansas could become so anemic overnight. I even questioned the doctor’s office on three different occasions about this and even ask point blank “could this be a sign of cancer”? I was told no.
On Saturday, April 19, 2008, Kansas came to me and pulled her shirt up and said “mommy, feel this hard place on my stomach”. I felt her left side and sure enough, there was a hard knot right below her ribcage. It wasn’t visible by just looking at it; you had to feel it to know it was there. I asked her if it hurt and she said no and then she ran right off and started back playing. Something told me right then that something was wrong. I had that “gut” feeling. The following Monday, April 21, 2008, we took Kansas back to the doctor and they did an X-Ray. The doctor was not very sure about the results and actually thought that it could have been blocked bowel. He sent us to a surgeon. The surgeon looked at the X-Ray and immediately sent us next door to the hospital for an ultrasound. After they reviewed the ultrasound, he ordered an immediate CT scan.
Within 15 minutes of the CT scan, our lives changed forever! We were told that our precious little girl had Bilateral Wilms Tumor (cancer in both kidneys). About 500 children are diagnosed with Wilms Tumor each year. Only about 5% of those are bilateral. We knew our lives would never be the same. The next day, we were sent to Palmetto Richland Children’s Hospital to be admitted. Kansas had surgery to insert a port-a-cath on Wednesday and started her chemo on Thursday. After six weeks of chemo, her tumors (2 in the left kidney, 1 in the right) had a shrunk enough to go ahead and have surgery. We then left and went to St. Jude Children’s Hospital for surgery to remove all three tumors, most of her left kidney and a small part of her right kidney along with some lympnodes. We stayed at St. Jude for two weeks and then came back home and resumed her chemo treatments at Palmetto Richland. Kansas had her last treatment on November 6, 2008. Her next scan is scheduled for December 1, 2008. After that, she will have scans every three months for a year then every four months for the second year and then every six months until they determine that she is safe to go once a year. (To be honest, I’d rather have them done once a month FOREVER). Cancer terrifies me; especially when it comes to my child or anyone else’s.
Our hope is that everyone will continue to pray for Kansas and all other children and their families that have been affected by cancer.
