For October, we want to introduce you to Leo and his family. At only four months old, he was diagnosed with neuroblastoma. Chelsea, Leo’s mother, tells his story of his diagnosis and how it has affected their entire family.

At four months old, Leo went in for a routine check up at the doctor. She was feeling his stomach and thought his liver felt large and suggested an ultrasound. At this point, nothing seemed like an emergency, just something she wanted checked so we didn't worry too much. We took him in for an ultrasound on 12/22, and on my drive back from the hospital, the doctor called to say he had masses on his liver, multiple masses. She said they needed to do a CT the next day to see more. His CT confirmed lesions on his liver and an even larger tumor in his abdomen. We were told to immediately take him to Children's Hospital for further treatment. My husband stayed with our other kids, and I took Leo alone to the hospital (days before Christmas) to get him treatment. On Christmas Eve Leo had to go into surgery to get his port placed and get a biopsy on the tumor in his abdomen. After surgery, things started going downhill for Leo. He had breathing issues and was sent to the PICU. He had to start emergency chemo since the mass was so big it was pushing against his lungs and causing issues with kidney function. It was terrifying to watch a group of doctors and nurses surround him and assess him as he struggled to breathe. I felt powerless watching them put him on high powered oxygen and discuss next steps for him. He was retaining fluids and his blood pressure was dangerously high. Leo was in the hospital for 15 days total before they released him. He continued chemo on a monthly basis. Each chemo treatment had to be inpatient due to him being so young. He's had six chemo treatments. He still has the cancer, but the doctors aren't planning on more chemo at this time and are monitoring him for the time being to see what the cancer does. He's currently in a phase of treatment where he is getting scans to check the cancer to see if it is shrinking and getting monthly blood work to make sure he's staying steady.

I think one of the hardest parts has been that Leo is so young. You can't explain anything to him. It's heartbreaking when he cries for you and doesn't understand all the pokes and prods by doctors. People will say it's good he's so young because he can't remember, but it's such an insensitive thing to say. He is human and experiencing this right now. It's obviously something that's affecting him now. He used to cry if anyone with a mask came near him among other things. For me, his diagnosis time was confusing and hard. Everything was so fast paced, and you just have to trust the doctors. You have to learn new medical terms at a rapid pace. You're thrown into this world you know nothing about but have to keep pushing forward without thinking too much about it because your baby is now in a fight for his life. I am a stay at home mom and my other children had never been away from me more than a few hours so it was also hard to leave them for long periods of time both at initial diagnosis and when Leo had to be inpatient for chemo. His siblings didn't fully understand what was going on and explaining it to them in ways they would understand was hard especially when they just wanted me to be home with them. I think the fear of his future has been hard. He's doing great in treatment, but I constantly worry about relapse and late effects of treatment. Leo has a kidney that didn't grow right because of the tumor taking up room where they were supposed to grow, and we have to monitor it to see if it even will be functional. He's on meds for blood pressure because of his kidneys struggling to function. I'm nervous about his future with this issue not to mention the daily struggle of making sure his blood pressure is under control.

We've been lucky Leo has responded well to treatment and he's stayed fairly healthy throughout. I think the only real positive that's come of this is that we've learned as a family that we can survive some pretty hard times. Also the support we've received from family, friends, and the community has been amazing. It's been such a blessing to have the support system we do. My husband had to go back to work to make money for us to survive and our family stepped up big time to help watch our other kids while I took Leo to the hospital for doctor visits and treatments.

What I didn't understand until recently is that cancer is a long process. We are facing years of follow ups with doctors and scans and medicine for Leo. It's not just chemo and move on with your life.

His chemotherapy was finished in July. Since then, he has had a follow-up scan showing that everything is stable. We can’t reiterate enough how much childhood cancer particularly at this early age has an impact on everyone in the family. Also, even though treatments may be finished, it is a lifetime journey.

Leo’s family has set up a GoFundMe.