
Help little Zayden fight cancer
Please read this post in its entirety: I am posting this for a dear friend of mine who's 2 year old son is battling cancer:
The story of my son Zayden Rodriguez…. Zayden was the normal toddler playful, energetic and full of life. He has always brought joy and cheer wherever he went. However, in early 2016 I began noticing that Zayden continuously had a high temperature. It would have gone away for a while but it kept coming back. Over the course of a month, his appetite slowly got less and less. Beginning to worry as any mother would, I carried Zayden to a slew of private hospitals where they performed a battery of tests, but no diagnosis came back as conclusive. It was only when I carried Zayden to Mount Hope Children’s Hospital during the first week of May 2016, where they also carried out their own tests, one of which included us doing a biopsy and sending the sample away for testing. The results came back towards the last week of June 2016. The diagnosis was my worst nightmare, Zayden had cancer. He was diagnosed with a rare type of Neuroblastoma, an unfavorable and undifferentiated type of Neuroblastoma which was also very aggressive. Tumors were found around his aorta and quickly spread to his entire stomach area, surrounding his kidneys, liver, spleen and pancreas. As a result, the doctors started him on chemotherapy immediately. The first round of chemo caused Zayden to swell up all over, as a result had to be admitted to ICU. The second round chemo had the opposite effect, Zayden became very small. I then had to get him to build back up his strength for the other rounds of chemo, doing my best by feeding him all the recommended foods. Zayden went through 8 rounds of chemo. During his 5th round of chemo, Zayden had to be admitted for emergency surgery to remove the tumors that were obstructing his organs, a surgery which almost cost him his life. The surgery was considered a success though he was required to remain in ICU for a while until he recovered. We thought things were getting better after the surgery. Cycle 7 of chemo commenced on December 1st, however after this cycle his original symptoms returned with a loss of appetite and fevers. We did another CT scan with the result showing that the tumor was now forming again behind his eyes and started to affect his brain. The doctors have now said that the chemo is not having the required effect on his cancer and are advising that he seeks care abroad as the local hospitals do not have the capacity to deal with this type of cancer, as much they want to and try to, they don’t have the resources. Zayden now has slurred speech and salivating from his mouth a lot. He is in pain, especially from his large surgery scar and has lost his appetite, which now requires me to feed him through a tube. He now feels nauseous a lot because of what is going on his brain, which causes him to vomit as well. As a mother wanting the best for my child, I am now seeking to have medical attention abroad as we have exhausted all options locally. The cost of Zayden’s care at ……..Nicklaus Children's Hospital is astronomical and I will need assistance to pay the medical bills and to give Zayden a real chance of fulfilling his life. I would greatly appreciate your generosity as we continue to pray for God’s healing grace over Zayden. You can donate via a GoFundMe account