Five years ago, our lives were forever changed by the words "your child has a tumor called neuroblastoma AND a rare disease called Opsoclonus Myoclonus." We will never forget Easter morning in April 2005 when Michael woke up shaking like he had Parkinson disease and walking into walls like he was drunk.  His eyes began moving around in his head like Cookie Monster’s do. Each day his symptoms got worse and worse. Sometimes it worsened by the hour. Michael went from being a healthy happy 2 1/2 year old boy who was full of energy and vigor, to the equivalent of a 4 month old in 4 weeks time. He could not sit up, stand, walk, talk, hold a sippy cup, feed himself, hold his head up or swallow. But that is not the worst part, he was having rages constantly. He would kick, scream, bite, hit, and nothing soothed him. He could not ride in the car or sleep at all. He went through two weeks of insomnia. He would sleep on average 20 to 30 minutes at a time until he woke up in another rage. Our little boy as we knew him was gone! All we could think was how did this happen, and when will it go away? Little did we know it would take five long years to get Michael into remission.
 
Michael was diagnosed with Stage I neuroblastoma and Opsoclonus Myoclonus Syndrome (OMS) at 2 1/2 years old. Since then he has undergone treatment for OMS every four weeks for the past 4 1/2 years with various chemotherapy drugs and steroids. Michael did not only have to fight neuroblastoma, he had to also fight OMS. With OMS, the healthier your immune system. the worse your OMS symptoms. OMS is an extremely rare auto-immune disease that attacks and kills brain cells in the cerebellum of the brain.
 
In October of 2009, Michael's doctors decided to test his immune system to see if it could fight on its own without the help of treatments. During the past year he has gotten a fever on two separate occasions. This means that his immune system is finally fighting the way it should fight a cold or a virus. He does have some setbacks when he gets these fevers and is very behind in school because of his OMS, but he is a fighter! After every treatment, no matter how tired or sick he felt he would want to come home and ride his bike or play outside. 
 
Today, Michael is still full of energy and vigor! He likes to go to the pond to look for frogs and turtles. He also loves to ride his bike, play with his little brother Matt, go to the beach, and believe it or not - Michael loves doing his homework!  Through it all Michael continues to be a loving, caring, sweet, and extremely helpful young boy.  He can finally enjoy the simple pleasures in life.  He never let his illness take away his spirit - that is why he will always be our Hero!
 

Written by MaryAnn and Brandon Hoffman, Michael’s Parents
11/10