My hero is my brave, strong and amazing son Andrew. He just turned 11-years-old and was diagnosed in January 2009 with Nodular Sclerosis Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, Stage 2. We found out that Andrew had cancer when he went to the movies with his cousin Jaclynn and his Nana. At the movies he was playing around with his cousin when she pushed him and he fell and hit his chest.

Later that night, he had a lump the size of a golf ball sticking out of his chest. I took him to the emergency room where they did x-rays and a CT scan. The doctors told me he had a mass in his chest and that Andrew needed to see an Oncologist right away. I was in shock! We ended up bringing Andrew to Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York City. There they did all the necessary tests and he had a biopsy.

We were told the mass in his chest was in the mediastinal wall and had broken through the chest wall. They told us they wouldn’t know exactly what it was until they completed a biopsy. When they did the biopsy all that they were able to tell us was that it was Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. That day we told Andrew that he had cancer, and we were going to get whatever help we needed to make him better. He was upset, but still okay at this point. It wasn’t until he was told that he was going to lose his hair that he started to cry. His dad used Melissa Ethridge as an example because he knew who she was and that she went through chemotherapy. It was a few days later that we got the full diagnosis and how much treatment Andrew was going to need.

Andrew was told things as his father and I were told. He took it like a champ! He has his days where he is not happy this happened to him but he has accepted it and takes each day as it comes. He has been amazing. He has lost his hair but was really good about it. When it started to come out, he told me he wanted to go get the rest shaved off. I was very happy that he felt okay with doing that. Having a bald head now does not even faze him. People stare at him and I ask if he is okay and he tells me “yes, it’s fine, they just don’t understand.”

We recently had all of his scans done again and the mass in his chest has shrunk. This is great news, but the doctors thought it was necessary to add a few more months of a different chemotherapy. Andrew was not happy, but once again he has accepted it. These new medicines have been really hard on him. He has been sick a lot, and very weak - but he still gets through each day with a smile on his face.

My son has been amazing through all of this. No matter how bad or how sick he feels he still gets through it. I am not happy that this has happened to my son but I am glad that we were lucky to find it when we did. I am glad that by Andrew going through this it has made him a stronger person. It has changed my son into a very brave, wonderful, amazing and strong little man. I call him my trooper! He is doing great and will continue to do so. I have told him what hurts and upsets us only makes us stronger. I love him more then life itself and couldn’t be any prouder of him than I am. He is my life, my love, my heart and my soul and seeing that smile on his face through this obstacle makes me smile. I couldn’t have asked for anything better!!!

ANDREW - I LOVE YOU MORE THEN LIFE ITSELF AND COULD NOT BE PROUDER OF YOU MY LITTLE TROOPER!!!

Written by Stacey Crawford, Andrew’s Mother
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