#RallyKid Oliver

On the way home from a family vacation in July of 2022, Oliver started having what he said was shoulder/neck pain. He was not acting like himself for several days after we got home, he was very agitated and upset and nothing really seemed to ease his pain, so my husband took him to the Urgent Care. The doctor there was certain it was constipation, but since Oliver had had NEC, which is a severe intestinal infection when he was in the NICU, she wanted to rule out something called intussusception which is where the intestines telescope back on themselves and is very painful for kids and can only be diagnosed through ultrasound. So they were sent to CHOA’s ER. Once there, the doctor also said he was 99% sure it was constipation and they would be out of there in 30 mins but since the doctor ordered the ultrasound already he would go ahead and have Oliver do it. Bill said he’s never seen a man’s face whiter than when the doctor came back in after the ultrasound to tell him that he’s sorry they had found a mass on Oliver’s liver the size of a softball and that they Hematologist would be in to talk to him in 30 minutes. Oliver was diagnosed with a rare, one-in-a-million cancerous liver tumor called Hepatoblastoma. We were shocked and speechless. SO much scary information was thrown at us about what could happen while Oliver’s tiny little body endured the poison that is the only solution to childhood cancer, permanent hearing loss, mobility issues, heart attacks, and death. So much uncertainty. There are no words to explain the emotions that we felt thinking when we came home from vacation that our biggest worry would be when we would get to unpack our suitcases and start on laundry, not having to spend the next 7 days in the hospital starting chemotherapy with our four year old trying to decide how to talk to him and his twin about what was going on and what the next chapter of our lives would hold for them. Over the next 5 months, we spent over 80 days in the hospital, Oliver underwent 6 rounds of chemotherapy, had countless painful procedures, was forced to take sometimes almost 10 medications a day, suffered many painful illnesses from being neutropenic from the chemo wiping out his white blood cells, lost his ability to walk normally or control the muscles in his face, lost so much weight he had to be put on liquid nutrition he had to wear in a backpack and carry around all day, had major surgery to remove half his liver and gall bladder and experienced more heartache and pain than any child ever should have to endure.

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