A Super Hero’s Story On June 15th, 2012, a super hero was born. That super hero’s name was Cayden James Willamson. Weighing in at 7lbs 2oz and 19 ½ inches long. Coming into this world was only the beginning chapter of a 15 month battle with the villain known as cancer. Cayden was a happy baby and always brought smiles to everyone’s faces that he met. From day one, I knew that he was going to be someone special someday…unfortunately I didn’t truly know how soon that day would come. The first 4 months of Cayden’s life was a very typical life for a baby. He was learning the normal things that every baby at his age should learn. Learning to move around and roll around. Learning how to make noises and grab things. Learning how to be a baby. The first 4 months of his life seemed to go by in a flash. The first appearance of the villain appeared on November 23rd, 2012. At the time, no one realized that the cancer was here, and here to fight. Late on the 23rd, Cayden’s left arm lost its mobility and we didn’t know why. I rushed him to the ER that night to see what the problem was. There, we were told that it was probably nothing more than a simple case of “Nurses Maid’s Elbow”. They told us to just follow up with his pediatrician the following Monday to see if they had a different opinion. His pediatrician did some x-rays. The x-rays came back negative so they said come back on Wednesday to follow up and see how he was doing. Wednesday came around and there was no improvement with his arm. They then set him up an appointment with a specialist to do some further tests. We went to that appointment expecting answers, answers that were unanswered again. Another appointment was set up on December 3rd, 2012, but this appointment was for an MRI. We checked in early that Monday morning in hopes of finally getting answers to Cayden’s arm. Cayden had to be sedated, the first of many tears as I watched my son struggle and kick and scream until the gas finally kicked in and he was out. The fighter in Cayden first showed at that moment. The anesthesiologist said it would take about 3-5 breaths and he would be out, the doctor counted to 15 before Cayden finally was sedated. All I could do was laugh and cry at the same time. The results came back later that afternoon. I was anxiously waiting for an answer, but unfortunately answers I did not get. They were supposed to do an MRI on his whole body but they only scanned his head. So we had to stay in the hospital another night so they could do another scan on his whole body on Wednesday the 25th. After the second MRI, the doctor came and told us that they had found a mass in his shoulder, they weren’t sure what it was. They had no one there that could, so they decided to send us to the Children’s Hospital in Norman. So we packed up and headed to Norman. They told us once we got there that they would be doing a biopsy on Cayden’s shoulder where the mass was. Unfortunately they couldn’t do it until the following Monday on the 10th. So we all waited some more, watching the clock tick away, becoming more anxious by the minute. Finally the day I will never forget came. It was the 10th and it was time for the biopsy. Cayden went back for the procedure and all I could think of was all the possibilities that it could be. My stomach was in knots the whole time. Waiting in the lobby with family, the doctor finally came out and said Cayden did well during the procedure and that we could see him shortly, but no answers to the looming question just yet. Now here comes the hard part, the part where the villain finally decided to rear its head. I was holding Cayden in the chair in his room while he was napping. The doctor came and he started handing tissues to everyone in the room, my heart sank lower than I have ever felt it. Then came the words that I will never get out of my head, “After reviewing the results of the biopsy, we have found blue blood cells around the mass, which indicates cancer.” My mind was in a daze and I honestly can’t remember everything that unfolded from that point. We were sent home and they said they would give the results to the Children’s Hospital in Tulsa and that they would get into contact with us. The following Monday on the 17th I was at work when I got a phone call, it was from the Children’s Hospital in Tulsa. They said the type of Cancer Cayden had was Rhaboid Sarcoma, a very mean and aggressive cancer that had a high fatality rate. Not what I wanted to hear. I was told that we need to get Cayden admitted right away so they could start chemo as soon as possible. I remember calling everyone I could think of in my phone book to let them know to meet us there. This is when everything was explained to us in detail about this monster and what the treatments would consist of, I can’t remember it all, I try to forget it honestly. This is where Cayden joined another group of super heroes….the Pediatric Oncology team, a team of doctors and nurses that tried to fight the villainous cancer on a daily basis. We met Dr. K, a wonderful and very knowledgeable doctor. This was essentially the beginning of the end, the beginning of many stays in the hospital, our home away from home. Cayden began his treatments, the first of many. So much went on while in the hospital, from Cayden’s immune system getting low and getting sick multiple times, from him pulling out his broviach tube out of his chest multiple times and getting put back in. I can’t remember the exact date, but after one of his CT scans we got a bit of hope saying that the tumor in his arm was shrinking. The first bit of good news we had received in months. I was so excited at the point, I was sure from then on out that Super Man Cayden Williamson was going to beat this cancer. Cayden continued his treatments for some time. We met so many great people throughout this time from a chiropractor from Skiatook (Tom Declue) to a group of wrestlers that put on shows for kids with cancer (WFC). So many people reached out wanting to help with everything going on. Cayden grew tired from being in the hospital all the time and not being able to live a normal life that a child should. After a couple more months of chemo and positive things happening, I was then hit with one of the toughest decisions (at the time). Cayden’s latest CT scan results came back the villain cancer was fighting back, and harder than before. The tumor stopped shrinking and actually started growing again. We were told that we had the option of either continue Chemo and risk the tumor growing into his chest wall and suffocating his lungs and crushing his heart, or amputating his arm. What was the right decision? Risk my son’s life or have him grow up with just one arm? Well it was a no brainer, we went through with the amputation. So back to the OU Children’s Hospital we went. Cayden’s procedure was set for May 7th, 2013. So many thoughts went through my mind leading up to that day. But our super hero came out perfectly fine, just one arm less. Cayden recovered so well, so well in fact that we were home a few days after the procedure. It took Cayden some getting used to with just one arm, but he adjusted so well. He quickly learned how to pull himself up with just one arm, learned how to hold his bottle quickly, and learned how to be a kid again. Everything was looking up again, he was happier than before because he didn’t have the pain of the tumor in his arm anymore. Cayden continued on with his chemo treatments for a few more months after the amputation. Cayden got to celebrate his 1st birthday on June 15th, 2013, a day that I was unsure that he was ever going to see. Seeing him so happy and opening his presents is a memory that I will always hold in my heart, that smile that he had that day is one that every kid should get to have. Then the day finally came that Cayden and myself have been waiting for for 7 months. It was Cayden’s last chemo treatment in July. I couldn’t hold back the tears that day, seeing all the nurses and doctors come in there and congratulate Cayden for pulling through and overcoming cancer. July 12th, 2013 was his official last treatment of chemo. I don’t know who was happier, me or Cayden. No more hospital stays, no more tubes hooked up to him, no more sickness….or so we thought. August 2nd, 2013 was the day Cayden went in for some bone scans and CT scans. They just wanted to cover all the basics to make sure that his cancer didn’t pop up anywhere else. That following Monday they did another MRI to just make sure everything was still ok. We were on top of the world, nothing was going to bring Cayden down, he had fought long and hard for 14 months at this point. Then on August 22nd, 2013 I got the phone call that no parent should ever get. It was Dr. K, it was a very solemn phone call. He said “I don’t know how to really put this, but after looking at his last scans, the cancer had popped back up. We have found a tumor on his spine and multiple nodules in his lungs, and at this point there is nothing further that we can do….I’m sorry.” My shocked response in tears was “So my son is going to die???”. My whole world just came crashing down, I didn’t know what to do. All I could do was just go grab Cayden and hold him and cry as he looked up at me in confusion. I called everybody I could think of. We went into Dr. K’s office a couple days later and were faced with options. We could either give Cayden a strong dose of chemo which would make him extremely sick and prolong the inevitable for 6-8 months, or we could just let it run its course and maybe get 2 more months with him. We chose to not make it any worse than it already was and decided to just let its run its course, this was the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make. The following weeks that ensued were no doubt the hardest days of my life and Cayden’s short life. Cayden was in so much pain, he couldn’t sleep comfortably and was not happy anymore, he would barely crack a smile at this point. He slowly began losing his eyesight and it scared him so much being able to hear us but not see us. Unfortunately the end was near for our little super hero. We went in for an appointment on September 4th, 2013. As I was getting Cayden out of his car seat, he had a seizure, I ran into the hospital with his limp body in my arms screaming I need some help. He had stopped breathing, by the time we got into a room he had finally started breathing again. They immediately got us up to a room and got us settled in. In the midst of all this chaos I had to sign a paper that said if Cayden coded again that they would not bring him back. Unfortunately Cayden coded again that night but I told them to bring him back, which they did. From that night until the 7th of September, they kept him comfortable with morphine and kept him on oxygen. So many people came up there and stayed with us those nights, with so much love and prayers for Cayden. Cayden was officially baptized on his hospital bed during those days. Two nights before Cayden passed, I had some alone time in the room with him. I just sat there and talked to him and told him that Daddy is going to be ok and that it’s ok for him to let go and go to heaven. Saturday morning, September 7th, I woke up and went to go get something to eat. When I came back, Dr. K was doing his rounds on the floor, it was his time to go into Cayden’s room. When we went in there we could tell there was something different about Cayden’s breathing. It was slower and more spread apart. Dr. K bent down to check him and then looked at me and said unfortunately he will be gone in the next hour. So I went and got everybody to come into the room that wanted to say their last goodbyes to my super hero. Shortly after the last person left the room, I watched my son take his last breath. I picked him up and held him for the last time and just cried. I couldn’t believe that my own flesh and blood was gone. Cayden “Superman” Williamson finally won the battle between good and evil that morning as he gained his angel wings and felt no more pain. Cayden was laid to rest at the Sperry Cemetery on September 11th, 2013. “Gone but not forgotten” 6/15/12-9/7/13. This short glimpse of Cayden’s life was not intended to make anybody upset or be sad, it was intended to show the harsh reality of dealing with Childhood Cancer. There is nothing simple when it comes to dealing with this monster and nobody should deal with it alone. Cayden was the epitome of what a super hero is, he went through all this with smiles on his face and brought so many smiles to others. Cayden’s Legacy lives on through me (his father) and so many others. I made it a goal to raise the awareness of childhood cancer and I hope that this harshly true glimpse of his life can bring more awareness to others. I support all cancers but I feel that Childhood Cancer gets pushed to the side behind Breast Cancer. Childhood Cancer Awareness needs to be just as big if not bigger than Breast Cancer Awareness. These kids need a voice and we have to be that voice for them. More businesses need to be involved with raising the awareness as they do with Breast Cancer Awareness. -Cory Williamson In Memory Of Cayden “Superman” Williamson Gone But Not Forgotten 6/15/12-9/7/13
Posted on: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 05:22:26 +0000
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