ARTICLES RELATED TO:
Hematology-Oncology

To read this in Spanish, click here! One day in May of 2022, Sebastian came home sad after school, causing me to worry about his unusual behavior as he is a very happy child. I asked Sebastian if something was wrong and if he was being bullied at school. He assured me he was just unusually exhausted. The following day, Sebastian was in the same down mood, but had a fever this time. I took Sebastian quickly to our local doctor, where he was diagnosed with a stomach bug and prescribed antibiotics. He eventually felt better, but not much time passed before the same symptoms returned. We went to another doctor who gave him the same diagnosis and prescribed more antibiotics. I wondered how it could be a stomach bug if he had no GI symptoms, but I followed the doctor’s advice. Rapid breathing was later added to Sebastian’s symptoms, […]

En mayo de 2022, Sebastián llego triste de la escuela. Estaba yo preocupada por él. Pensé que tal vez alguien era un bully, pero me aseguró que estaba inusualmente cansado. Al día siguiente era lo mismo, y tenía fiebre, así que lo llevé al médico que le diagnosticó una infección de estómago y le recetó antibióticos. Mejoró, pero no pasó mucho tiempo antes de que regresaran los mismos síntomas. Fuimos a otro médico que dijo que era lo mismo y nos recetó aún más antibióticos. Me pregunté cómo podría ser una infección del estómago si no tenía síntomas gastrointestinales, pero seguí lo que dijo el médico. Pero luego se agregó la respiración rápida a sus síntomas y supe que algo más estaba pasando, así que esta vez lo llevé al hospital. La respiración era tan rápida que me asustó. Pensaron que era bronquiolitis y prescribieron un tratamiento con nebulizador. Cuando […]

This post was written by Nathan’s mom Kim Silpath “It’s not about me anymore, it’s about the other kids”- Nathan Every day, 43 parents have to hear the same words we heard a few years ago, “your child has cancer.” I still remember that moment, and the reaction from my son, Nathan. He was ready to fight it. Not just for himself, but fight and help other children with cancer too. I could not have been more proud. Nathan was an incredible child that had a passion for school, sports, and most importantly helping others.  He loved meteorology, biology, hiking, soccer, sled hockey, and football! Nathan’s cancer battle started in 2010 when he was at soccer practice and started mentioning how his leg was bothering him. Nathan noticed a bump on his leg, but like most kids, didn’t think much of it and continued playing soccer. As his pain increased, […]

How did two children’s healthcare organizations in Jacksonville, Florida care for kids 7,000 miles away? Jonathan Soud was a 12-year-old patient at Wolfson Children’s Hospital and Nemours Children’s Health, Jacksonville, being treated for leukemia. During his treatments, his doctors and family spent a lot of time talking to him about his interests in travel and other cultures, especially the country of Mongolia. Eric Sandler, MD, is a pediatric hematologist/oncologist at Wolfson Children’s Hospital and chair of the department of pediatrics at Nemours Children’s Health, Jacksonville. He developed a special bond with Jonathan during treatments, sharing his own fascination with distant lands. Dr. Sandler also discovered that Jonathan had an interest in serving others. “After he passed away, his parents came to me and said they wanted to figure out a way to honor Jonathan’s memory,” said Dr. Sandler. “Since we had had all those conversations regarding Mongolia, his family decided to […]

This blog post is written by Larry, the father of Maddie, a medulloblastoma patient who survived a brain tumor at the age of 2. Larry inspires us by sharing his daughter’s story. “Heroism is endurance for one moment more.”      George F. Kennan In the fall of 2008, at the age of two, our daughter Maddie was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a brain tumor that arises at the base of the brain and often spreads down through the spine via the spinal fluid. Over the course of the next ten months, Maddie underwent multiple brain and spine surgeries and intense chemotherapy protocols at Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children. After six cycles of chemo treatment, she had made amazing progress, knocking out 90% of her original disease. Because her scans were not completely cancer-free, she then went through an additional six weeks of radiation therapy. Conquering Cancer The effects of radiation on a 3-year-old can […]

At 15, avid runner Manny Gonzales was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Inspired by his physicians, he was determined to not only beat cancer, but to become a pediatric oncologist and devote his life to fight childhood cancer. He’s now in his first year of residency at the same hospital where his life was saved 10 years ago.