“Survivor Pablo”
One month after our son celebrated his third birthday, we received that horrible news that our Pablo had stage III nephroblastoma. Nephroblastoma or Wilms’ tumor is cancer of the kidneys that typically occurs in children. In order to shrink the tumor, Pablo had to endure one month of chemotherapy to be better prepared for surgery to remove this tumor from his kidney. After surgery came what felt like the never ending succession of eight radiation treatments then six grueling months of additional chemotherapy.
During all this time, we somehow managed to keep our life as normal as possible despite the weekly visits to the hospital or follow-up appointments with doctors. Pablo’s worst fear lay in the form of chemo injections. To keep him motivated and all of us focus on the positive, we devised a plan to help Pablo brave his fear. For every shot he had to endure, we colored in a picture of one of his favorite cartoons, Thomas the Tank Engine. For every chemotherapy visit, our little warrior colored one Thomas the Tank Engine, twenty seven attached cars and one caboose.
Recently, we just celebrated Pablo’s fourth year post treatment and diagnosis of CANCER FREE! At almost eight years of age, Pablo is a little boy enjoying every second of his big life!
Our cheeriest wish is that pediatric cancer won’t be a life threatening disease anymore. We wish for new drugs with no long term side effects and that one day we can witness a cure. But in the meantime, we want families and patients suffering from pediatric cancer to know that they are not alone and this diagnosis does not mean the end. For us, we wish that the only fear facing anyone fighting against pediatric cancer is, as it was for three year old Pablo, the shot.
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Beginner Challenge (Home) 5 ROUNDS
30 jumping jacks
25 sit ups
20 step ups
15 squats
10 burpees.
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Advanced Challenge (Gym) 5 ROUNDS
30 double unders
25 toes to bar
20 box jumps
15 goblet squats
10 burpees.
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