Our Story

 On a Fourth of July trip to Niagara Falls, after a long and active day with friends, Jennah complained of her belly hurting. We assumed it was typical for a three-year-old- perhaps she's been out in the sun too long or eaten something that upset her stomach. Thinking little of it, we gave her some children's Tylenol, and she slept through the 3 hours drive home.

In the days following however, the bellyaches and loss of appetite became more frequent. One doctor's visit turned into five, and one x-ray after another showed nothing more than constipation. We were at a loss. The pain was getting worse, and nights were the hardest. She was staying up in pain longer and longer. Until one day, four weeks after her first complaint , we found ourselves rushing to the ER of our local hospital at 5 a.m with Jennah screaming in agony. The ER physician ordered a CT Scan, something we later realized should have been done weeks before. An hour later, he called one of us to walk to his desk to discuss results. I walked back with the Dr.With his voice breaking, he pointed to something large and he said to me, "this here is a tumor". 
I stared at the screen . I remember not understanding his words, as if he spoke another language. I saw blurry images . Confused, I said " I don't understand". He went on then to explain that the scan was showing a 9 cm tumor in her abdominal cavity and that she needed to be transported immediately to Golisano's Children's Hospital. 
That morning was the first day of our journey with Rhabdomyosarcoma.