Xavien C.

My son, Xavien, is 8 months old. He was diagnosed with billateral
Retinoblastoma on December 20th, 2007, when he was just 6
months old. He is a very happy baby. He smiles all day long! When
he has to go through all the blood-taking and chemo he squirms a
little and then goes right back to smiling at the nurses and doctors.
He absolutely loves his big brother, Jovan, and enjoys playing with
him when he gets home from school. His favorite cartoon, as far
as we can tell right now, is The Backyardigans. He likes to dance
along to their songs.

He is a very strong baby too. On many follow up appointments at
MSKCC he leaves the doctors amazed. In fact, they are always
describing him as "amazing". He has left us all baffled at how well
he is handling his treatment. He was expected to lose weight
because of appetite change due to the chemo. Instead, he has
actually GAINED a pound! Naturally, we still worry, but we are
very proud that our little "chunky monkey" is doing so well!