For My Little Boy
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
By: Shawna Singleton

My life was forever changed when I was told my six year old son had cancer.

Why I Relay?

I Relay so no mother ever has to live in fear of losing her child when she is told, "Your little boy has a brain tumour, and it is most likely cancer." I Relay so no more children have to endure treatments to "save" their lives that give them long term side effects including hearing loss, intellectual deficits, growth and developmental problems, and possibly other cancers.

I remember the day we were told that our only child was sick April 20, 2007. I can still have a physical reaction to the memory. How could my six year child old have cancer? I had done everything right - nursed him for almost two years, didn't let him eat junk food, used sunscreen.Yet somehow the beast had taken hold and started growing in his brain.

Lucas was treated with 30 rounds of radiation and 9 cycles of chemotherapy. He missed lots of school, and was now "different" from his friends, had hundreds of needles, and endured treatments that made him sick and weak. But he rarely complained and dealt with it all with a maturity beyond his years.

When our team Relays on June 12, Lucas will celebrate his first year off treatment it will be over two years from the initial diagnosis. We are so thankful that he is a SURVIVOR!