When Mary Evelyn grows up, she wants to be a nurse, just like Sara Goldberg. Sara is Dr. Katzenstein's nurse and Mary Evelyn loves her. Thank to the wonderful medical care she has gotten at CHOA and the mercy of God, it's possible that she will get the chance to grow up and be just like Sara.

Mary Evelyn was diagnosed with IV neuroblastoma in June 2005. She was two years old and had a huge tumor in her abdomen with little fingers of it growing up around her spine and aorta. She had had reoccurring urinary tract infections and could hardly walk due to pain in her legs from the cancer in her bones. She was diagnosed just a few hours after arriving at the ER at CHOA and started chemo within three days.

Finding out your daughter has cancer is truly a nightmare, but one great blessing was that were surrounded by doctors, nurses and other staff who gave us realistic hopes. Form the first night I spent with my little girl on the Aflac floor, I knew I was in a special place. I will never forget our nurse, Erin, telling me that Mary Evelyn had not received a death sentence and that she had seen miracles on that floor. After spending most of last year on the Aflac floor, I learned that for all the pain, fear and sorrow on that floor, there is also hope, joy and lots of kindness there too.

Mary Evelyn's treatment was six rounds of chemo, major surgery to remove the tumor, two tandem bone marrow transplants, radiation and drug therapy. She was also hospitalized for fevers caused by infections along the way. Sometimes I'd say, "You have to take your medicine or you'll get sick and need to go to Egleston" and she'd reply, "I love the hospital, can we go now?" She loves the nurses, the playroom, craft parties, bingo and all the movies!

The bone marrow transplants were very hard because not only did she feel very sick from the high dose chemo that preceded the transplant, but she was confined in her room, the BMT playroom and the area surrounding the nurse's station. She had to take laps around the nurse's station each day, no matter how sick she felt. I tried to make them fun by having treasure hunts, letting her ride her tricycle, and other things. The nurses enthusiastically cheered for Mary Evelyn each time she came out of her room. The doctors, nurses, cleaning staff and even visitors encouraged her as she rode her tricycle with one of us pushing her big IV pole behind her. Together, we made it as much fun as it could be.

Mary Evelyn is through with most of her treatment now, so we mostly just see everyone in the Aflac clinic. She loves to be with Sara and is so comfortable there she'd rather have her vitals in the room while I wait in the waiting area. She likes to walk around with Sara and she loves the other nurses too. Mary Evelyn plays nurse at home with her dolls and seems to have the routine down pat.

Mary Evelyn is living a normal life. She went to preschool whenever she could last year and loves to see her friends. She likes to swim now that her central line is out. She loves hearing stories, helping her mommy, going shopping and drawing. She loves to act out fairy tales – especially Cinderella. She had a special experience this spring when she lit the torch for Fayette County's Relay for Life. Mary Evelyn has learned a lot of poise through all the special attention she has been getting. She had thousands of people cheering for her as she took a lap and lit the torch, but she was calm and simply enjoyed it.

She will finish up the drug therapy this fall and then continue to have regularly scheduled scans for the rest of her life. We know that there is a chance that the cancer will come back, but we are grateful now for whatever time we do have together. When watching our child fight cancer, we've come to think about death more deeply than we'd want to and death became more a part of our life. Life also has become even more precious as we've become more aware of what a gift it is. Our families and friends have become closer to us as they have gone through this with us. We've also found that people are amazingly kind everywhere we go. People have prayed daily for Mary Evelyn, cooked us dinner, read her website and left kind messages – even people we've never met. There are other families who also have children who are battling cancer that we have gotten to know and that support, particularly through Camp Sunshine, has helped greatly.

Through it all, we've been able to trust that Mary Evelyn is getting the best medical care available in a hospital where people love her. Knowing that has given us the peace of mind to focus on our role as parent and give her the best care we could which allowed Mary Evelyn to stay the sweet, happy girl she was before all this happened.