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Patient Stories
At Nationwide Children's Hospital, we realize that emotional support is every bit as important as medical treatment. That’s why we want you to meet some of our patients, who, like you, are dealing with the daily challenges of a blood or cancer condition.
Just last fall, Nicholas Sawchuk – 10 years old at the time and entering the fourth grade – began having unexplainable seizures. A few months after the seizures started, Nicholas took what could be considered a miraculous tumble down his basement stairs and ended up at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, which led to a CT scan and the eventual diagnosis of a large malignant tumor in Nicholas’ temporal lobe. Shortly after the discovery of Nicholas’ tumor, a surgery was scheduled and the mass was removed from his brain by the skilled surgeons at Nationwide Children’s.
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Since his surgery, pathology results indicated that Nicholas’ tumor was infiltrative and malignant cells were found in his normal brain tissue, so the Brain Tumor Program Team at Nationwide Children’s will follow Nicholas with regular MRIs to watch for the inevitable return of the tumor. But his mother Jennifer is hopeful, passionate, and confident in their path ahead. She plans to run her first full marathon, the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Columbus Marathon this fall in support of her son’s battle. Jennifer says that “Nationwide Children's Hospital a place where miracles can and do happen.” Until the marathon in October, Nicholas, his twin brother Benjamin and their brothers Alexander and Matthew are keeping mom busy with lots of bike rides, taking care of their pets, swimming and fishing.
Beautiful strings of origami butterflies will mark Nicholas’ mile along the marathon course. Each butterfly will be created with love and support by someone different, making each one as unique and special as the person who made it. Nicholas loves butterflies; to him they are beautiful symbol of freedom, transformation and hope. For us, they represent the transformation to healing and the hope for freedom from illness.
Come fly with us at Mile 18 and support Nicholas by joining his team here!
When Parker MacDonald was just five years old, he was diagnosed with lymphoblastic lymphoma, a type of blood cancer. Nationwide Children’s Hospital became a second home for the MacDonald family, where Parker endured many rounds of chemotherapy treatment. Throughout his battle, Parker kept a remarkably positive attitude, even when he was losing his hair.
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Now, seven years later, Parker is 12 years old and cancer-free. Because of the harsh chemotherapy and radiation that saved Parker, he is now 50% more likely to be afflicted with cancer in the future. Raising money for cancer research has become a passion for the MacDonald family.
Parker plans to motivate runners during the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Columbus Marathon at Mile 17 with the same attitude that got him through his life-threatening battle with cancer. You’ll recognize his mile by the Lego theme. Join Parker's TEAM LEGO now.
As a young, first-time mother, Tara Loy knew that others might think she was overreacting. But she didn’t let that stop her. Something wasn’t right with her little 9-month old, Ramona, and she was determined to find out what was wrong. After a trip to her pediatrician, Ramona was referred to Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
Tara will never forget the doctor telling her that her only child had cancer – neuroblastoma, to be precise – a rare cancer that spreads quickly and is often diagnosed after the cancer has spread.
In Ramona’s case, x-rays revealed the tumor and doctors determined that it was occupying 60 to 70 % of her abdomen and had spread to one of her kidneys.
The staff at Nationwide Children's Hospital moved quickly to help Ramona. She had a difficult surgery to remove part of her adrenal gland, as well as the affected kidney. Complications further magnified the situation when the good kidney wasn’t functioning properly after surgery. As a result, Ramona was put on dialysis for a week. After surgery, Ramona also had IV chemotherapy and radiation.
Today, Ramona is an active 3 year old and shows no signs of the disease, although doctors will continue to monitor her for years to come. She loves the outdoors, enjoys watching movies, craves chocolate milk and loves spending time with her friends at preschool.
Nationwide Children's Hospital
700 Children's Drive Columbus, Ohio 43205 614.722.2000
700 Children's Drive Columbus, Ohio 43205 614.722.2000