Support Team Nicholas!
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We are raising money for our good friends, Ashley and Nick, and their little boy facing a long road ahead with surgery and chemotherapy. Please help in any way you can! Here is how it all started, in the words of the little guy's mom, Ashley:
Labor Day weekend we were wrapping our day up as normal...dinner, bath, lotion, and then off to bed. Nicholas has a BIG boy appetite to say the least, so his little belly often looks like he's got a ball hiding in there. While putting lotion on him I noticed that his belly was harder than usual. I had two thoughts...he had so much for dinner that everthing is pushed to the surface of his skin, or he really needed to go to #2 in the worst way! Nick and I decided that we would wait and see how things were over the next few days. After monitoring his belly after bowel movements and his meals we realized that the hardness was not going away. We figured that he had some sort of inflammation of his liver or kidney and thought he could possibly be fighting off an infection.
Monday morning I called the pediatrician and got the next available appointment. Nick and I took him in to the office and the doctor immediately felt the same thing and we were sent across the street to a Children's Close to Home location for an xray of his belly and chest. About 2 or so hours later, we received a phone call confirming that Nicholas had an enlarged kidney on the right side. He was scheduled for an ultrasound of his abdomen first thing Tuesday morning. The ultrasound was rather lengthy and I just knew that something was not right. After about a 30-40 minute ultrasound, a radiologist read the images and we were asked to return to our pediatrician's office right away. After what felt like days (only minutes, I am sure) our doctor came into the room and began to shed tears explainging that they had found a tumor on his kidney and that it would be a long journey ahead. We sat there listening and holding hands while kissing the little man that had no clue what he was facing. What a strong boy and what a long trying road he has to travel.
The next few days held oncology appointments, IVs, CT Scans and surgical consults. Surgery to remove his entire kidney, some lymph nodes and put a port into place was scheduled the following Monday. Our family and friends have surrounded us with more love and support than we could have imagined. I knew that we were a blessed and loved little family, but I was still blown away at the amazing kindness and support of everyone around. People are kind, generous, and so amazing. The Bakers are beyond thankful, grateful, loved and blessed. Every single one of you reading this have been so wonderful and we hope that you know we truly appreciate it all. Every text, every email, every card, smile, Facebook post, phone call, visit....just know that it is all important and we cannot say thank you enough.
Nicholas has now had his kidney removed, and chemotherapy should start in the next few weeks. We are trying to raise money to cover medical expenses for the long journey that Nicholas has ahead of him!
Labor Day weekend we were wrapping our day up as normal...dinner, bath, lotion, and then off to bed. Nicholas has a BIG boy appetite to say the least, so his little belly often looks like he's got a ball hiding in there. While putting lotion on him I noticed that his belly was harder than usual. I had two thoughts...he had so much for dinner that everthing is pushed to the surface of his skin, or he really needed to go to #2 in the worst way! Nick and I decided that we would wait and see how things were over the next few days. After monitoring his belly after bowel movements and his meals we realized that the hardness was not going away. We figured that he had some sort of inflammation of his liver or kidney and thought he could possibly be fighting off an infection.
Monday morning I called the pediatrician and got the next available appointment. Nick and I took him in to the office and the doctor immediately felt the same thing and we were sent across the street to a Children's Close to Home location for an xray of his belly and chest. About 2 or so hours later, we received a phone call confirming that Nicholas had an enlarged kidney on the right side. He was scheduled for an ultrasound of his abdomen first thing Tuesday morning. The ultrasound was rather lengthy and I just knew that something was not right. After about a 30-40 minute ultrasound, a radiologist read the images and we were asked to return to our pediatrician's office right away. After what felt like days (only minutes, I am sure) our doctor came into the room and began to shed tears explainging that they had found a tumor on his kidney and that it would be a long journey ahead. We sat there listening and holding hands while kissing the little man that had no clue what he was facing. What a strong boy and what a long trying road he has to travel.
The next few days held oncology appointments, IVs, CT Scans and surgical consults. Surgery to remove his entire kidney, some lymph nodes and put a port into place was scheduled the following Monday. Our family and friends have surrounded us with more love and support than we could have imagined. I knew that we were a blessed and loved little family, but I was still blown away at the amazing kindness and support of everyone around. People are kind, generous, and so amazing. The Bakers are beyond thankful, grateful, loved and blessed. Every single one of you reading this have been so wonderful and we hope that you know we truly appreciate it all. Every text, every email, every card, smile, Facebook post, phone call, visit....just know that it is all important and we cannot say thank you enough.
Nicholas has now had his kidney removed, and chemotherapy should start in the next few weeks. We are trying to raise money to cover medical expenses for the long journey that Nicholas has ahead of him!
Organizer
Ashley Boltz
Organizer
Columbus, OH
