My baby girl Aurora Leigh was most likely born with her tumors, but wasn't diagnosed with cancer - or anything else, for that matter - until she was five-months old. We should have caught it earlier, since she had an obvious symptom - her legs had stopped working - but our prior doctor in Missouri had given us an explanation- one that was difficult to accept, but one that we wasted time following. We sought treatment in our home state of Michigan, and honestly feel like we owe Rori's life to our pediatrician.

He knew right away what was wrong with Rori but kept his suspicions to himself, choosing to send us on to the Helen DeVos Children's Hospital for confirmation, rather than spooking an already-freaked-out mother.  Once we got to DeVos, things moved quickly.  She was admitted on September 12th and the next day, our nation's first Childhood Cancer Awareness Day, we found out that something indeed had been very wrong.  She was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, stage III, intermediate risk.  The next week passed in a blur of tears, tests, surgeries, and baffling terminology.  By the time Rori celebrated her first Christmas, she’d had a couple of surgeries, blood transfusions, and four rounds of chemotherapy behind her.

Along this journey, we've become more knowledgeable and my confidence as a parent has begun to return.  Nothing brings out the advocate in a parent like a cancer diagnosis!  At 1-year-old, Rori is off treatment.  The tumor is not completely gone - 8% of the original mass remains in her spine - but her oncologist believes we're better off watching and waiting than subjecting her to more chemotherapy and surgery.  As time has gone by, we've seen her left leg return to full mobility.  The right leg is still considered "monoplegic," but we aren't giving up!  We have complete faith in our oncologist and it's so wonderful to have been given the gift of this doctor.

We know that many children go through so much with this disease and we are grateful to have so many people working to help Rori. More than anything, we just want Rori to be healthy, to live a normal life, to walk.

Written by Dawn Goodwin, Aurora Leigh’s Mother
07/09