Maya Hathaway
Maya Hathaway
Stage IV High-Risk Neuroblastoma
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/mayahathaway
Our Story
This is Maya Hathaway's story. She is now 9 months old. On July 19, 2007 Maya was diagnosed with Stage IV, High-Risk Neuroblastoma Cancer at 5 months old. That day changed our lives forever.
On July 9th she was admitted into Rady Children's Hospital with a high-fever that would not go away and a very low blood count. For almost a week she had doctor's baffled and then they found two tumors. A very, very tiny tumor around her lower right rib and a primary tumor that was pretty large (about half the size of her stomach) above her right kidney and above the right side of her stomach. We were then moved from the CCU to the HEM/ONC unit and since then pediatric cancer has been at the center of our family's lives. We were so overwhelmed, Maya had only been here for 5 1/2 months, how could she have cancer already? Unfortunately, no one knows. So far Maya has gone through two rounds of chemotherapy and will have a surgery in a few months to remove what's left of the tumor. After that she will have more chemotherapy, a stem cell transplant, 3F8 antibodies radiation, hopefully more 3F8 antibodies along with accutane. Before she turns one year, Maya will have gone through more than anyone I know has gone through in their lifetime and she does it with such grace and strength. Through this all, she remains a very happy smiling baby.
Maya's favorite things are eating baby food (she can't wait to get her hands on the real stuff!) and watching Elmo-- she loves Elmo! Maya thinks the funniest people in the whole world are her Daddy and her big sister Tianah (age 11). She loves to laugh and eat and she has a big family and lots of friends who loves her tremendously.
Right now we are all praying for her to beat this horrible cancer. It angers and disappoints us that there is a lack of funding and research for childhood cancers, especially neuroblastoma. We are sickened by the fact that for the first time the government cut funding in 2007 to the National Cancer Institute which supports and researches to find a cure for cancer.
Maya is the strongest baby ever. She is a princess and a warrior all in one, fighting this disease with everything she has in her little body. She is amazing and she is such a good baby. She has all of the nurses wrapped around her finger! And they love her so very much too! The more prayers the better. We really want to find a cure for Nueroblastoma. Anything you can do to support that cause would be great. We pray everyday for Maya, that God has blessed us with such a beautiful baby who has the strength of 1,000 soldiers, a heart of gold and a smile so infectious and big it just warms your heart.
Thank you
Thank you for helping save my life & the life of many other babies and kids like me! Hoping for cure, Praying for a miracle!