Joey's long journey back to health
When Joey was nearly 2 years old, his mother, Maria, noticed he was having trouble keeping his balance. While his condition seemed innocuous at first, it marked the beginning of an 18-month medical journey at Children's Memorial Hospital that included chemotherapy, radiation therapy, a stem cell transplant , multiple surgeries and numerous hospital stays. Joey's father, Peter, dubbed it an emotional “roller-coaster ride.”
At first, Joey's parents were told his condition was likely caused by a virus. Initial tests at a local hospital, including a CT scan of his head, were negative. But just as his parents were about to take Joey home, a doctor walked in with the results of a bone scan. It showed that he had a tumor wrapped around the aorta in his chest.
Joey was immediately transferred to Children's Memorial, where the diagnosis of a large, cancerous tumor called a ganglioneuroblastoma was confirmed. Joey's oncologist, Joanna Weinstein, MD , explained that the treatment protocols would include months of chemotherapy and radiation. “It feels surreal to have a toddler going through this,” says Peter.
Peter says the family, which also includes two older siblings, Antonio and Dominique, was constantly amazed at how well Joey tolerated his treatments. “Maybe if he was older he would have had more fear, but he handled the poking and prodding unbelievably well,” says Peter.
Joey's mother credits the hospital's Child Life team and its volunteers with frequently bringing a smile to Joey's face by finding fun activities for him. He was also cheered up by Lucy, his ever-present stuffed golden Labrador retriever, who became something of a celebrity on the cancer unit.
As if he wasn't going through enough, an MRI showed his tumor was pushing severely on his spinal cord, necessitating surgery by Tadanori Tomita, MD, head, Division of Neurosurgery; Medical director of the Falk Brain Tumor Center ; and Yeager Professor of Pediatric Neurosurgery. “When Joey came out of surgery that night he was able to move his legs. It was like a miracle,” says Peter.
Eventually the chemotherapy and radiation shrunk the tumor enough so that Marleta Reynolds, MD, head, Division of Pediatric Surgery, removed the cancerous portions of the tumor. A final, intense cycle of chemotherapy would be used to kill any residual cells. At that point, Joey received a transplant of healthy stem cells harvested from him months earlier. Following several weeks in isolation and a weeklong stay at Kohl's House with his mother, Joey returned home, although more radiation therapy and medicine would follow. Kohl's House is home-away-from-home for patients and their families, located near the hospital and made possible by the support of Kohl's Department Stores.
Joey still has a mass in his upper back area that will need to be monitored, and he will require a series of quarterly follow-up tests at the hospital. His father reports the 3-year-old is back to his old self: wrestling with his dad, crafting with his mom, catching and hitting a baseball and playing with his brother and sister. Maria says despite the ups and downs the family will always be grateful to the hospital, its caregivers and the rest of the staff.
“It's difficult to express what Children's Memorial means to us and how everyone there supports the whole family,” she says. “When you stay at the hospital for weeks at a time it becomes your home and everyone who works there becomes your family.”
Children's Memorial Hospital seeks philanthropic funding to enhance its programs and services. As a proud partner of the Children's Miracle Network (CMN), all funds raised in the Chicago area through CMN also benefit Children's Memorial. To find out how your support can help the hospital better serve children and families, please contact the Children's Memorial Foundation at 773.880.4237 or Foundation@childrensmemorial.org.