Dylan's Journey

On June 23, 2022 our lives changed forever. Our 5 week old baby Dylan was rushed to SickKids after his paediatrician found a mass on his tummy at his routine one-month checkup. We spent hours in the ER doing blood work and ultrasounds until our worst fears were confirmed. Dylan was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma, a form of paediatric cancer.

​The immediate days and weeks following Dylan’s diagnosis were a blur as we moved into SickKids and Dylan immediately began chemotherapy and treatment for his cancer. What started as an exciting summer welcoming a new baby into the world turned into a nightmare. We wondered if our baby would survive or live a normal life. We were thrust into the world of paediatric cancer, as doctors frequented our room. We were enrolled in courses on how to care for a child with cancer. Our other son Jake, who was 18 months old at the time, moved in with our family while we dealt with our new reality. Cancer is a scary and overwhelming world that no parent or child should ever have to know.

During our time as in-patients on floor 8 ( the oncology floor) at SickKids, we met many other young cancer warriors and their families. Since Dylan was not sleeping through the night, we made friends with families who also had infants going through chemotherapy and paced the halls together at night in our pyjamas, trying to soothe our infants. It was both heartbreaking and inspiring to hear each family’s story.

We are lucky to have a team of specialists at SickKids who specialize in Neuroblastoma. Neuroblastoma can be an incredibly aggressive cancer and the specialists at SickKids work tirelessly to perform research and clinical trials to find a cure and provide lifesaving treatments. Our medical team saved Dylan’s life and we will be forever grateful.

During our stay on floor 8, the nurses were our absolute saviours. On our first day as inpatients, we were greeted with a welcome sign and the nurses went through each aspect of Dylan’s care so that we knew what they were testing for and what his blood levels and caloric intake should be. It was the nurses that gave us a crash course in cancer and sat with us at night with hope and optimism while we cried and processed this situation.

After months of treatment, we are cautiously optimistic about our brave Dylan’s prognosis. Although Dylan is technically still living with cancer, the doctors remain optimistic about his long term prognosis and tell us to just treat him like a normal baby!

We believe that the silver lining to our experience is that we can share our experience to raise money and awareness for paediatric cancer, specifically, Neuroblastoma. We also want to give back to the nurses that truly were Dylan’s lifeline. These funds can help children like Dylan receive the prompt treatment they need to live long, happy and fulfilling lives.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts,

Lauren, Matt, Jake and Dylan

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