Our son, Mark, was diagnosed with stage 4 Neuroblastoma shortly after his fifth birthday; a day no parent would ever forget. To hear our son had cancer was devastating. Mark not only had cancer; the tumor had compressed on his spine, paralyzing him from the waist down. Mark immediately began treatment at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tennessee.

In August of 2013, after finishing frontline therapy at Vanderbilt, Mark relapsed with Neuroblastoma in his brain. Vanderbilt had two options for Mark to try; a chemotherapy and antibody treatment, which gave Mark a ten percent chance of surviving or, take our son home and love him. We knew in our hearts that Mark’s fight was not over, which brought us from Tennessee to New York City to begin treatment with Dr. Kim Kramer at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center has a Neuroblastoma team, which has provided excellent care for Mark over the last year and half. We believe that, without the doctors there, our son would not be with us. Mark has relapsed twice since the beginning of this year, and with the care he has received at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, our son, our hero, Mark is now showing NO EDVIDENCE OF DISEASE! Even with that wonderful news, Mark still travels to New York for antibody treatment once a month, and routine scans every three months.

We give thanks to Miracle Flights for Kids for making it possible for Mark to receive the best treatment possible.

Mark's parents
Tennessee

Photo and story provided by Miracle Flights