Antonio was such a joy when he was born. Being the first grandchild for my parents and first nephew for my sister and brother he was spoiled and never lacked attention :). He was such a good baby and slept through the night from the beginning. When he was around 2 1/2 years old he stopped eating as much and was having a lot of cold symptoms. I took him to the doctor’s and they thought he had allergies. That was on a Friday and on the following Monday I got a call from my sister while I was working saying Antonio's stomach looked lopsided. So, I took him down to the ER right away and they did some scans and told us at first it was just a cyst. They sent us to the Children’s Hospital in Seattle by ambulance for more testing. Once we were at Children’s they told us it was a tumor and cyst. We had to wait until the morning to do more tests! The next few days were full of tests and then a biopsy. By Friday morning after all the tests and biopsies were done, we were told Antonio had high risk neuroblastoma. He was given a 25% chance of making it through his treatment. He had the large tumor on his right side wrapped around his kidney, a few small tumors in his chest and the cancer had spread throughout his bone marrow. We were devastated. Antonio went through eight rounds of intense chemotherapy, two surgeries, a stem cell transplant, and 12 rounds of radiation and 6 months of oral treatment at home.  It was a rough year in a half,  we spent weeks in the hospital and our lives were completely turned upside down. 

This year we are celebrating 10 years in remission!   Antonio amazed us all with his strength and courage during his treatment. He is a true fighter and battled one of the toughest childhood cancers. 

Today, Antonio is so full of energy and life! He likes playing basketball, football and video games.  He loves being adventurous and playing outdoors with his cousins and friends.  Looking at him now, you could never guess all the obstacles he has faced in his past.  He's a happy and mostly healthy 15 year old.

Through the years we have spent lots of time raising money for childhood cancer research through the Alex's Lemonade Stand foundation.  It has been a great way for us to share Antonio's inspirational story with others while raising money for a great cause that is near and dear to our hearts. 

Written by Olivia Gonzales, Antonio’s Mom
Updated: October 2014

Before and after tretament photos of Antonio: