Support Buggy in his fight with Kidney Cancer

On Friday August 13th 2021 I brought my 5yr old son Maddox to the ER for an upset stomach, accompanied by a high fever that had lasted for 24hrs. I was at this point concerned that it could be his appendix or gallbladder based on what he said he was feeling and where the pains were.

When we arrived at the hospital questions were asked, an IV placed, blood work drawn, urine ran, chest x-ray performed, and then we did A LOT of waiting. After waiting what seemed like forever, everything came back normal, except his sodium and potassium were a bit low. The doctor chalked it up to drinking too much water and said his electrolytes were off and to drink more Gatorade. He called our pediatrician who decided he would like to keep him overnight just in case it was his appendix because if it was his appendix it would progress very quickly. They did not perform a CT scan at this point as they wanted to reduce any unnecessary exposure to radiation.

Once we were finally admitted, the Pediatrician on the floor was convinced that he had Perforated Appendicitis and ordered the CT scan right away. Twenty mins after we got back to the room the doctor entered. Holding his Tablet he approached the couch i was sitting on and calmly sat next to me. Now, I'm preparing myself for the news that my son will need surgery to have his appendix removed. I wish today that that had been our reality. The pediatrician looked concerned, but proceeded to tell me that while his appendix was on the larger side of normal, that it wasn't concerning because it was still within normal range. However, what they found concerning was a very large mass on his left Kidney. The mass was so large in fact that his spleen was pushed waaaay up into his chest almost under his collar bone. He said we dont know what this is, but we are going to figure it out and get it taken care of.

The next Morning a Pediatric Oncologist came to our room. My heart sank as she introduced herself. She proceeded to tell me that with almost 99.5% certainty it was something called Wilms Tumor which is a form of childhood Kidney Cancer. The plan was to perform surgery to either take a biopsy, or if it could be done safely a complete left Nephrectomy ( Kidney Removal) which would also include the removal of this massive tumor.

Tuesday August 17th 2021 Maddox went under for surgery. This procedure took almost 7 hours. During which time the surgeon performed the complete left Nephrectomy and tumor removal, and placed a port under the skin in his chest for Chemotherapy. It was discovered that the tumor had ruptured and there was spillage in his abdomen. The spillage was tested and came back negative for cancer cells. They also took a few lymph nodes, and they also tested negative for cancer cells. He is recovering well from surgery, has completed 7 radiation treatments, and 4 Chemotherapy sessions.

This go fund me if to provide support for our family as we navigate this most difficult time. We have completely lost all income for the time being as my husband has been out of work caring for our 20 month old. Because he himself didn't have any illness he was denied short term disability, but was approved for FMLA which allowed him to keep his job while taking unpaid leave. There will more than likely be even more times where he will need to be out of work. Anytime bug will have to be hospitalized for treatments, fevers, or neutropenia (the presence of abnormally few neutrophils in the blood, leading to increased susceptibility to infection. It is an undesirable side effect of some cancer treatments.) We need help keeping our heads above water. Bills, gas, food, medical needs, etc. It all piles up quickly when there isn't any income coming in. We would be forever grateful for any support you wish to provide.

GoFundMe does take fees from your donations, so we ask that if you have access to Cashapp- $cybo87, Venmo- @cybo87, that you please send your donations there ,as we will then receive the full donation. Thank you so much for taking the time to read our story, and you can follow along with our Wilms warrior here : https://www.facebook.com/groups/226013669455394/?ref=share