For March we would like to introduce you to Neev, who has Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Hodgkin’s Lymphoma is not typically found in toddlers as it usually occurs in much older children. However, because of the nature of this type of cancer as well as advancements in treatment over the last few decades, the five-year survival rate is around 97%. Purvi, Neev’s mother, tells us how they discovered that their son had cancer.

Neev displayed a swollen lymph node in April 2023. I was very taken aback as I'd never seen this before. I also have a 14 year-old son and have never encoutered a child with a swollen lymph node before, so my anxiety was off the charts. I took him to his pediatrician, who reassured me that most children get swollen lymph nodes due to infection, and they go down after some time. He was put on an antibiotic to see if it went down. He also had an ultrasound, which they didnt see anything abnormal.

When it didn't start going down after a month or so, I started getting uneasy and took him in again to his pediatrician who referred us to his ENT. The ENT ordered a CT scan, which also didnt reveal anything malignant. The ENT suggested trying more aggressive antibiotic & reassured me that the chance of him having something serious like cancer was 0.03%.

I still wasn't convinced, and when his lymph node didn't respond to the aggressive antibiotic, the ENT referred us for removal via surgery through a pediatric ENT at Children's Hospital in Augusta, GA. Surgery was scheduled for Oct. 13, 2023. I pushed for it earlier as Neev's node kept increasing, and I was really getting worried. The pediatric ENT pushed up his surgery to Friday, Sept. 15, and the lymph node was removed. I was called just a few days later on Wednesday Sept. 20, that Neev had Hodgkins Lymphoma.

Our world came crashing down.

Next came the beginning of treatment, port insertion, a PET scan, and his first round of chemo, all within a week of his lymph node being removed. My husband and I were just in a world of daze and confusion while trying to hold it all together for our older child, who is a high school freshman and very active in sports.

Slowly, we learnt that Hodgkins is very curable, and Neev's was detected very early. No matter those reassuring facts, the journey through chemo with a 4 year-old is daunting and excruciatingly painful to watch. Being poked repeatedly, receiving toxic chemo which has so many side effects, and seeing my child go through all this has been the hardest time of our lives.

We are completely hopeful that Neev will be cured & we will continue to live our lives as before. Please keep praying for Neev's recovery.

God’s gives such strength to overcome big battles.

As of December 30th, 2023, Neev has completed his treatments. Throughout all of his care, he did exceptionally well with only a few bad days because of the chemotherapy. All of his testing has been good. We would like to wish Neev and his family continued good news.