Hello Dance Marathon! We would love to introduce you to a very brave boy. This is a story about our 7 yr old son Cameron who has been battling his cancer for almost 5 years. We are proud to say that he is a 3 TIME cancer survivor!!! Cameron was diagnosed in 2002, at the age of 2, with a cancerous kidney tumor. Although relatively rare, Wilm's tumors are the most common form of childhood kidney cancer. After doctors removed the racquetball sized growth, Cameron embarked on a 26 week regimen of chemotherapy. Following the treatment, Cameron was in remission. Thirteen months later, at the age of 4, extreme abdominal pain resulted in the detection of a softball sized mass in his abdomen. Cameron had relapsed and again underwent surgery to remove the tumor. Doctors at University of Iowa Children's Hospital developed a treatment plan consisting of multiple chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Cameron again entered remission in March 2005 and remained in that capacity for 18 months.

A routine checkup in September 2006, detected 2 areas of concern in his liver. After an exploratory surgery found one of the tumors to be inoperable, the plan was to first shrink the masses with aggressive doses of chemotherapy. After 3 cycles of chemo the tumors had shrunk enough to go to surgery where 50% of his liver was removed. In February 2007 doctors gave the nod for the next step--aggressive 6-day high dose chemotherapy and stem cell transplant. After the entire month of March was spent in the Pediatric Blood and Bone Marrow Unit at UIHC, Cameron was released in record time. He has since completed the last and final phase of his treatment--17 days of intense radiation to the margins of the remaining liver tissue.

Now we wait. We return to Iowa City for periodic scans and check-ups. We are hoping that scans will continue to be clear and that Cameron will finally reach remission forever! We cannot tell you how important Dance Marathon has been to our family. Not only do the support programs help lift the burden of miscellaneous expenses, the relationships that we have formed with the dancers are most certainly very dear to our hearts. Dance Marathon 2007 marks our 3rd year with the organization and we plan to continue the partnership. Keep up the good work everyone! Dance Marathon rocks!!!