Our twenty month old grandson Owen "Buddy" Durant was a vibrant active little man. Right after Thanksgiving he wasn't feeling himself, poor appetite, drained of energy and was sleeping a lot. After one of his doctors appointments he was tranfered by ambulance to Children's Hospital of Philidelphia "CHOP". We needed to find out what was wrong with Buddy.

After a few hours at CHOP his parents Matt and Amanda first heard the words "it might be cancer". On December 10th after numerous test and scans Owen was officially diagnosed with High Risk Neuroblastoma, a very rare and serious cancer. Less than 400 kids a year are diagnosed with this fast spreading aggressive disease.

Five hours after his diagnoses he was receiving his first round of chemotherapy to try and stop the progression of this terrible cancer. He received five days of chemo and was then discharged. Buddy was only home for twenty hours, developed a high fever and had to be rushed back to CHOP by ambulance for another six day stay.

So far Buddy has endured 6 rounds of chemo, last round with immunotherapy which is very painful, so painful he needed morphine to control the pain. He has had 4 surgeries, multiple CT, MRI, MIBG, and PET scans and 2 bone marrow biopsies, all while having to be put under anesthesia because of his age. He has also needed multiple blood and platelet transfusions.

Going forward Owen has a long road ahead of him, he will need many more months of intense chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiation, and other various treatment. Multiple more scans, biopsies and transfusions. This is a life long cancer, his treatment and follow up appointments will be years to come. Our Buddy has gone through so much and he is only part way there.

Matt and Amanda have spent countless nights at CHOP, when not there they are traveling back and forth for appointments. They have also had to rush Buddy back multiple times for emergencies due to high fevers and low blood counts, which always turn into multiple night stays at the hospital. To add a little bit more to the stress level, Amanda was 5 months pregnant when Owen was diagnosed. Our lucky charm Connor was born on March 17th St Patricks Day!

Through all of this Matt and Amanda have remained very humble. They have endured what no parent should have to go through with their child. Endless days and nights at the hospital, watching your son receive chemo, getting sick from that chemo in the hospital and at home. Watching Buddy get rolled away on a stretcher multiple times for tests, surgeries and biopsies. Having to hold him down for various procedures as he is screaming not understanding why it needs to be done. Having to give him shots at home, which he really does not like. Getting woke up in the middle of the night, if they can sleep, from Buddy crying out. This is just a small part of what Owen and his parents have been through.

Matt and Amanda have had to take extended absences from work to be by Owens side. All of the hospital stays, traveling back and forth and all of the other numerous expenses have added up fast. That is why the grandparents are kindly asking for donations for Matt, Amanda, Owen and Connor. We feel no family should have any added financial stress while trying to support their child through cancer treatment. We would greatly appreciate any amount you can donate. Thank You all very much!

Jeff & Liz Durant

Bert & Pat Lesniewski