The instant that my 5-year-old son Pierce’s doctor said the word “cancer,” life as our family knew it was shattered.
After receiving his diagnosis, Pierce spent 118 days in the hospital, where he endured nearly 20 surgeries, more than a dozen blood transfusions and a bone marrow transplant. As I spent my time at his bedside with our newborn, my daughter Sierra was left heartbroken at home without me, Pierce or her new baby sister.
Even after Pierce was finally discharged, we were all constantly worried. Would his body reject the bone marrow transplant? Would he have a bad reaction to his medication? We just wanted to feel joy again. When Make-A-Wish® came into our lives, they gave us the chance to feel exactly that: normalcy and togetherness amid so much uncertainty. |