On the night of June 21, 2006 my wife Kristin and I were putting our three boys, Isaiah age three, Judah almost two, and Titus three months, to bed. The morrow was going to be a long day for the family, so we wanted to get the kids to bed early for a good rest. The next day would be the celebration of Kristin and my four-year anniversary, Judah's second birthday, and Isaiah biopsy. Our son's chest was dramatically distended by a tumor the size of a softball.

A week prior to the biopsy we were at our local hospital for an ultrasound scan of Isaiah's liver, which appeared to be enlarged. A blood test weeks earlier gave no cause for alarm, so my wife and I were sure that the tests would go quickly with no negative results. I can still remember the nervous sensation I felt when the ultrasound technician typed in the words "renal mass". We were then escorted into a private conference room where the supervising doctor told us Isaiah's liver was being pushed forward by a large tumor. Most likely, she said, the mass was either a Wilm's tumor or Neuroblastoma. We were sent home and told to wait for an opening at the Cleveland Clinic, a nationally ranked hospital nearby, which could better treat our son. As soon as I got home I rushed to the computer to look up the two tumors on the Internet. My heart sank even further when the first sight to pop up was that of the National Children's Cancer Institute. Our son, Isaiah, had cancer!?  continued...