Andy

Be Brave, Go Bald! Help Andy's big brothers Robby and Carl (aka Buddha) raise money for the NCCF!

What you can do to Help Kids with Cancer

Some Andy Memories - Update 11/24/05

More Andy pictures - Update 10/3/05

ANDY

   Andy is a happy, very active little boy. He loves jungle animals, especially lions and tigers. He likes to paint, color and play castles and dragons. He enjoys wrestling with his brother, Robby. He doesn't like being examined by doctors and he hates the radiology department at the hospital.
    When he was 20 months old a tumor was found on his left kidney. On 5/11/99 his left kidney was removed. On 5/13/99 he was diagnosed with Stage III Clear Cell Sarcoma of the kidney.
    He was enrolled in the National Wilms Tumor Study # 5 for CCSK. He underwent 6 days of radiation and 24 weeks of chemotherapy. He received vincristine, cytoxan, VP-16 and doxorubicin. He came through it all with very few complications or side effects. He never vomited due to chemo, never lost his appetite, never had mouthsores and never became constipated. He never had any fevers or infections. He did require 3 transfusions for red blood and 1 for platelets. He had a reaction to VP-16 at the very end of his therapy.
     Most importantly he never let the cancer or it's treatment get him down.
     On 11/10/99 Andy completed his chemo. On 11/30/99 he completed his end of therapy scans and was officially declared off treatment and cancer free. Andy remained cancer free for the rest of his life. He never had another hospital stay after that last chemo treatment.   He went on to learn to read, write and draw pictures. He was a wonderful story teller and a fantastic artist. He learned to ski and to swim and loved to do both. His life was happy and he really knew how to live. Everyone who met him has to smile when they think of him.

Andy swimming, summer 2003

Feb. 25st 2005- The brave and mighty Andy passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. The cause of death was a strangled small intestine and abdominal adhesions. It was apparently a complication from his surgery almost 6 years ago.

Happy, healthy Andy November 2000