
Owen is a Fighter
Two weeks after his second birthday, while in the hospital for a bone infection, Owen was diagnosed with stage IV neuroblastoma. After nearly a year of chemo, numerous surgeries, a stem cell transplant, and radiation, he was clean. Unfortunately, he relapsed in the summer of 05, when a large tumor was found in his head. The cancer had also returned to his bone marrow. After more surgery, radiation, and another six months of chemo, he had no detectable cancer in his body. His parents enrolled him in a clinical trial at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, where they were able to clean him up completely. Unfortunately, he suffered a second relapse in the summer of 2006. After another surgery, more chemo and radiation, Owen beat his cancer for the third time and is once again in remission. He is now enrolled in a similar clinical trial using antibodies that will specifically target tumors inside the skull. Since the treatment he is undergoing has no side effects, Owen loves going to New York, and can't wait to explore Central Park every time he goes.
Despite everything he has been through, Owen is a completely normal five year old boy. When he's not riding his mini John Deere tractor or playing with his big sister Shannon, he's playing with his trucks, trains, cars, or anything else with wheels! Like all kids who have beat cancer, Owen is a true hero and refuses to let this annoying thing called cancer get him down or dampen his enthusiasm.
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