Parents: Vicki & Mike
Grandparents: Donna & Gary Stewart, Pat & Gord Reeve, Great-Grandma Eileen Leslie
Birthday and Age: June 7, 1999
Home: Kitchener, ON
School:: Breslau Public School , Breslau – Grade

Story

On Sunday, August 12, 2001 we confirmed from a leg x-ray and bloodwork at our local ER, that Kent was unwell and was being transferred to Children's Hospital of Western Ontario that same day. They suspected cancer – query leukemia. Four days later, after many tests, scans and biopsies, we learned Kent had an even more challenging cancer, Neuroblastoma Stage IV.

Initiatally, we spent 14 ½ weeks in hospital, starting with the night of the 12 th – we'll never forget that first drive down to CHWO. Kent was very ill but did respond well to treatment. The protocol included 6 courses of chemo, a stem cell harvest (collection of his own stem cells/bone marrow), 2 surgeries, and 15 sessions of radiation to his abdomen. We travelled to Toronto 's Sick Kids for his autologous bone marrow transplant and returned home on June 1/02. Kent was finished treatment !!

Kent was in remission for 14 months until our worst fear fell upon us, the disease had relapsed. In August 2003 we were back at CHWO and started chemotherapy again. The chemo was intense and we ended up back in Grand River Hospital for fever neutropenia often. However, Kent again responded well and quite quickly. His strong and steady progress kept our spirits up.

We finished treatment in May 2004 and Kent started S-K that September. He was a healthy, regular little boy, with no complications or restrictions holding him back. Kent excelled and we had a wonderful year. Unfortunately, shortly before the end of the school year, Kent relapsed again. Luckily, he was still fairly well and celebrated his 6 th birthday at home with his buddies. He has also attended a few days of Grade 1 this fall. It has been a busy time with 4 surgeries (for a broken right femur), antibiotics for infection, and ongoing chemo.

We've had many ups and downs this time around. We see Kent weakening but still wanting to fight and get better again. We continue to hope for a miracle to zap this disease out of him forever.

Favourites
Colour: red
Number: 6
Nick / pet names: Kent'r, Kenty, Special K, Bud;
Hospital Staff: They are ALL special > playtime with Melissa & Lisa; Penny, Jenn, Val, Andrea, Heather, Ryan, Karen, Carlos,
Camp Trillum Staff:
Teachers: Mrs. Dodd (Gr 1) ; Mrs. Ritz (SK) last year
Treatment Friends: 2005 - Josh (pizza & video games buddy), Sweetie Shelby, Cole, Justina, Katie; 2003 – Brennan, Hannah, Austin, Ashley, Kaleigh, Winona; 2001 – Keeley, Dustin, Jodi, Lauren, Joshua,
Friends: many special friends & cousins
Wish: Kent enjoys travelling and ‘eating out'. He often talks about returning to Florida and going to Texas to visit his cousin Abby
Events / Moments: Make a Wish trip to Give Kids the World Village; Children's Wish Foundation trip to Star Island Resort, Kissimmee, Fl.; Trips to Florida and Texas with family, Camping with Grandma,
Songs: All Star (Shrek 1 movie); anything rock'in!
Interests: Video games, Batman, ATV riding, swimming, t-ball,
Traits: unbelieveably brave, witty, bright, very special
Books: Robert Munsch collection and ‘David' stories

Mom & Dad's Comments:
Kent has continued to amaze us with all that he has endured. He's beyond brave – and has the “bravery beads” to provie it. While we've been given a challenging path to follow, we have met some of the most wonderful and amazing friends along the way. Treatment time is always made into a fun time with the special nurses, caring staff and activities.

We hope that a cure may come for all that suffer this dreaded disease; particularly for the children that so innocently fight with such determination.

It takes special staff to care for our special children and we are so thankful for the great teams at CHWO and GRH that take such great care of Kent . We appreciate the support received from family, friends and various organizations. It's helped us along this journey of childhood cancer.