Taylor is a six year old little boy who has gone from a routine of kindergarten, to a schedule of chemotherapy, blood counts, and procedures, but has remained true to his halloween costume persona of Iron Man. Shortly before Christmas 2013, Taylor’s mom noticed his leg looked a little swollen. Taylor never complained about pain while walking and after a routine visit for an ear infection two days before the holiday, Taylor’s father asked the doctor to examine his leg. A few days later, the referral for an ultrasound was given and slightly more than a week later, Taylor was being admitted for a surgery and to search for the cause of the swelling.
Within six days, this little boy endured the biopsy, an MRI, CT scan, PET scan, port placement, and the beginning stage of a 54 week treatment plan that he is now halfway through for Stage 4 alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma. During his time at the Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, Taylor enjoyed the televisions provided by the Foundation in patient rooms for nearly 50 days of hospital stays and took rides in the Brady Buggy Wagons while waiting for counts to recover for the next round of chemo. The buggies were also useful during discharges-to carry all the stuff like toys and crafts accumulated over the week long stays. Taylor’s family is incredibly grateful for all the love and support shown to them by the Hugs for Brady Foundation while Taylor was in the hospital.
Taylor’s father, Les says, “Kids carry no fear of cancer, and I refuse to give Taylor that fear”. The family takes each day step-by-step and continues to battle for Taylor head on with a whirlwind of treatments of proton therapy, clinic visits, and chemotherapy while letting him experience the joys of being a kid when building a Lego set or even simply drawing with crayons.
You can follow Taylor through treatment at www.facebook.com/TaylorLeeBarta.