Declan was diagnosed with stage III, Malignant Rhabdoid Tumor, a rare (U.S. Dx ~ 5-10 times/year) and aggressive cancer in his kidney when he was less than 2 years old.
On St. Patrick's Day 2005, the day of Declan's surgery, his surgeon looked at him and said, with a name like that, this is a GREAT day for surgery. After the diseased kidney was removed he immediately began a treatment program that included ten rounds of massive amounts of chemo, 10 days of radiation, stem cell harvesting and countless diagnostic scans. It is truly amazing what his little body handled in the nine months it took to complete.
This St. Patrick's Day marks four years since this journey started and he continues to make a terrific recovery. Now in kindergarten he continues to amaze and delight all those around him.
He's still closely watched by his treatment team, Mom and Dad still take turns getting freaked out during scans and Declan still walks onto the Peds floor of MSK as if he's home.
