Arden - the Very Best at Hugs!
The story of Arden, as told by her mum, Erin.
Arden was 2.5 years old. She had the most beautiful big blue eyes and the funniest little side smirk. She was so incredibly intelligent, wise beyond her years. She never had time for antics, she wanted everyone to get straight to the point, as quickly as possible. She was a girly girl and a tom boy all rolled into one. She loved to wear her princess dresses while pushing around her trucks and dinosaurs. She loved The Wiggles and Paw Patrol. Her favourite songs were The Wheels on the Bus and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. She loved cars and would race the nurses at the hospital up and down the halls. She gave the best hugs and my favourite memory is the first time she understood how to give a hug. I imprinted it in my memory and I can still feel her little arms around my neck. We are in Ottawa Ontario and Arden received her treatment at Children’s Hospital of East Ontario in Ottawa and Sick Kids in Toronto.
Arden was diagnosed in July of 2018 at just 13 months old. Her full diagnoses was Stage 4 High Risk neuroblastoma. Many people think this is a brain cancer, but this is a cancer that originates in immature nerve cells usually around the adrenal glands. We first noticed a small mass on her chest. It was very small, hard and moved around very easily. This lead the doctors to believe that it was a benign cluster of fat cells, so it went untreated. A few months later Arden began to have some blood in her urine. It was a very small amount and we were told it must be a virus. It continued to get worse and worse until we brought her to emergency and refused to leave until they figured out what was wrong. That’s when we found out that there was a large mass in her abdomen. Arden’s treatment consisted of 6 rounds of chemotherapy as well as a resection of the tumour. They were able to remove all of the cancer during the resection which lead us to the next step of treatment. Arden needed to undergo two stem cell treatments which bring you as close to death as possible and give you a bee immune system. It is extremely dangerous and a terrifying experience to watch your child go through. After the transplants we needed to do 12 sessions of radiation followed by 5 rounds of immunotherapy. We never made it through the immunotherapy.
We relapsed after the third round. We had been in remission for so long it felt like we were almost there and it was all torn away from us. Arden was so strong through it all. Of course we had awful days and days when she wasn’t at her best, but she was still a kid. I’m between throwing up from all the treatments she was playing and having fun. Making friends at the hospital and learning new things everyday. She was playing and learning new things when we were only days away from her passing away. It’s mind blowing and heartbreaking to watch your child slip away from you all while learning new words and colouring and singing.
Arden taught me so much about myself and continues to teach me about myself. She showed me a side of my parents I had never seen before. Their true unconditional love they had for her was amazing to witness. She taught me to be a parent and to take a breath and be in the moment. I never take for granted the time I have with my son. I try not to waste my time on being angry or stressed anymore. Life is literally too short. She has connected me with my spiritual beliefs and helped me figure out what those are. I truly look forward to the day when I can be with her again. I miss her so so much.
The Facebook Live video about Arden’s story as posted as part of Superhero September, 2021 can be found below: