JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – It’s something no family ever wants to endure — having a child battle cancer.
More than 9,600 children in the United States under the age of 15 will be diagnosed with cancer this year, according to the American Cancer Society.
Despite an increase in child cancer cases this decade, kids are beating it.
Imagine your child is showing symptoms of maybe a cold or something else but you can’t figure it out. For one mother, those symptoms were cancer.
Tequisha Wyman remembers the day her daughter was diagnosed — April 25, 2023.
It was diagnosed as neuroblastoma, a rare cancer and one of the worst in the world.
“I thought it was like a stomach bug because she stopped eating and life was going on really good just noticed during the week she wasn’t eating like her normal self so I thought it was a stomach bug or flu. So what made me take her in is when she fell to the ground and she lost a few pounds,” Wyman said.
According to Cleveland Clinic, neuroblastoma happens when immature nerve tissues (neuroblasts) grow out of control. The cells become abnormal and continue growing and dividing, forming a tumor.
Wyman brought her daughter to Wolfson Children’s Hospital and the doctors were able to figure out how to help beat the cancer. But that’s not always the case for other children.
According to Cancer.gov, survival rates remain poor for some cancer types and for some age groups.
- Half of children with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (a rare type of brain tumor) survive less than 1 year from diagnosis, and only 10% survive 2 years from diagnosis
- In 2012–2018, the 5-year survival rate for Ewing sarcoma was 78% for children, compared with 64% for adolescents
Overall, according to the CDC, cancer death rates declined between 2001 and 2011 for all age groups of youth.
Wyman’s daughter, Sa’Kyra, is winning her fight against neuroblastoma thanks to the support of her family, Wolfson Children’s Hospital and the Jay Fund.
“Right now my exciting news is that my daughter has kicked cancer’s butt, so she is in remission, and she just recovered from her bone marrow and she’s headed on to a normal life. So this is over,” Wyman said. “It actually feels amazing. It’s like victory, it’s like joy, it’s like peace, it’s like amen, it’s a lot of things.”
Sa’Kyra, 9, has been in remission for three weeks and is looking forward to being a doctor one day.
Cancer impacts all age groups and while some data shows it is impacting younger age groups early detection can help in fighting against cancer.