Jesse was and still is a wonderful blessing to my husband Jeff and me.  Our entire lives we wanted to be parents, and we were overjoyed when Jesse was born.  Jesse instantly became the center of our universe.  We lived to make him happy, and loved everything about him.  Jesse is very sweet and compassionate, yet has a very strong and brave side.  He loves cars, super heroes, playing with his cousins, and his Power Wheels truck.    However, last April, Jesse complained of a headache during his 3rd birthday party.  It was intermittent, but with each day, his pain increased.  At first, we were treated for a sinus infection.  When the pain increased and Jesse reported he could not see, we headed to Children’s Hospital of Boston.  A CT scan was ordered after initial tests did not show any infections.  My husband Jeff went into the room with Jesse, while I waited outside of the scan room, 8 months pregnant.  I became nervous when they wanted to rescan Jesse. Once the second set of scans was completed, we were ushered back to the room with the doctor.
 
The doctor told me to sit down, and I knew in his young eyes, this was not going to be easy.  All I heard was, “a large mass was found in his head.” Teams of doctors entered the room, gathering to do whatever it took to help Jesse.  Over the next few days, another tumor was found in his adrenal gland, leading to the diagnosis of high risk neuroblastoma.  It was Stage 4, a very aggressive cancer.  It was in all of his bones and bone marrow, and his biopsy showed the DNA of the tumor was unfavorable.  Chemotherapy started in the ICU just two days after walking into the emergency room. 
 
That first month we stayed at Children’s; I did not know what would happen to my son.  The pain the tumor caused in his head was intense, and he lost vision in his right eye as the tumor pressed against his optic nerve.  He was sick all the time from the chemotherapy and I watched his hair fall into his pillow, broken hearted.  We would share a bed and he loved to lean in close to his unborn baby brother, Colton.  Moments of comfort were short lived as Jesse would vomit every 15 minutes despite medication to help control nausea.  Radiation started as well, to stop this aggressive tumor from growing in his head.  During this time, our faith was shaken but not lost.  We decided to do whatever it took to get our son back.  And we did. 
 
Jesse endured an intense schedule of chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, a bone marrow harvest and transplant, more radiation, many blood transfusions, an antibody treatment and now he is on Accutane. Jesse’s cancer responded well to his treatment and now he is cancer free.   Our goal is to prevent relapse and we will.  Because with faith, hope, and love for Jesse… anything is possible.
 
Written by Suzanne Heikkila, Jesse’s Mother
02/10

Update: Jesse relapsed in 2011 and 2012.  Sadly, he passed away on January 30, 2014.