'She's a Unicorn'
- Three-year-old Vada Kay Wiginton has beaten kidney cancer for a second time, and her family is celebrating.
- When she was 20 months old, she was diagnosed with stage 5 kidney cancer and recently completed her 46th round of chemotherapy.
- After ringing the "end of chemo" bell, Vada had her Cinderella moment as a horse-drawn carriage waited for her in the hospital driveway.
When she was 20 months old, she was diagnosed with stage 5 kidney cancer. (Stage 5 means tumors were found on both kidneys at the time of diagnosis.) Since then, she's battled the disease not once, but twice, and completed 46 rounds of chemotherapy. She recently finished her final round of chemo, and that was cause for celebration, her father Matthew Wiginton tells the Rochester (Minnesota) Post Bulletin.
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"Just the look on her face said it all," Matthew tells the Post Bulletin.
In the crowd watching Vada's dream come true were her grandparents Mike and Colleen Wiginton who were fighting to hold back tears.
"It was very heartwarming," Colleen says. "This is a major, major, wonderful day."
"She's had a lot of blessings. She's handled this really well. She's always got a smile on her face and she's always upbeat," grandfather Mike says. He shares an extra special bond with his granddaughter as he's a fellow cancer warrior; he's a 20-year colon cancer survivor.
While Vada and her family haven't heard the magic words "no evidence of disease" from her doctors, next for the 3-year-old is a scan to make sure there are no more Wilms' tumors on her kidneys. If the odds are in her favor (fingers crossed), Vada will begin getting check-ups every three months until she's 8 years old. The family also plans to celebrate with a trip to Disney World.
"She needs to be a kid. She needs to experience normal things," her father says. "What's next is normal."
'She's a Unicorn': Vada’s Kidney Cancer Battles
Vada's doctors found a Wilms' tumor on each of her kidneys when she was just 20 months old. Wilms' tumor, according to the American Cancer Society, is a type of childhood cancer that begins in the kidneys and is the most common type of kidney cancer in children. About 9 of 10 kidney cancers in children are Wilms' tumors.
Once the tumors were discovered, Vada underwent chemotherapy treatments for 16 weeks to eliminate them. She entered remission for an entire year after those first 16 weeks. But, another Wilms' tumor was found a year later a recurrence. She then began aggressive chemotherapy.
Vada's cancer recurrence meant that she couldn't travel outside a 20-mile radius of the hospital, which had become like her second home. And the hospital staff like her second family.
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"The only life we've known as a family is (to) go to the doctor," Matthew says. "I had to shave my daughter's head twice. That took a lot out of me as a dad.
"She's done more than any child should have to do. She's so strong and brave, and she does this with the utmost courage, strength and resilience. I mean, it's crazy," he adds. "She's a unicorn just a magical creature."
Life After Cancer
After a cancer battle, many patients feel like they have a "do-over" in life, and often tend to appreciate life and the "little things" even more. While Vada may not remember everything about her kidney cancer battles as she's still very young, her parents definitely won't forget; putting cancer in their rearview mirror seems almost impossible.
Matthew says their family won't ever be able to fully put this chapter of their lives behind them. "When cancer is diagnosed, it's with you and your family for life," he says. "It's always this cloud that hangs over you that you don't know if a relapse is coming."
After Cancer, it Felt Like a Second Chance to Get This Life Done Right
For survivor Jovannie Lorenzo, getting through cancer treatment felt like getting a second chance at life. Lorenzo was just 32 years old when she was diagnosed with colon cancer. She was a single mother to three young kids at the time. To get through it, she put her faith in God, and she said facing her disease gave her the opportunity to really turn her life around.
"I do believe in being born again," Lorenzo tells SurvivorNet, "and I feel like, after having had my cancer, for me … this was my second chance at life. This was my rebirth. This was my opportunity to try and get this life done right."
One thing we know for certain is that things are going to change after you've had cancer that's part of the process. Things will change for you and your family, like in Vada's case. But it doesn't have to be a bad thing.
Follow That Fire: Life After Cancer Will be Different, That Doesn't Have to be a Bad Thing
After CC Webster was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma at 29 years old, she was struck by the overwhelming anxiety she started to feel. "In life after cancer, I experienced an entirely new level of anxiety that I didn't know existed," Webster tells SurvivorNet. "Earth-shattering anxiety that makes you sweat, and makes your heart race. I had to learn how to manage myself in that, and how to allow myself to process the trauma that I had just been through."
Webster says what finally got her back on her feet was facing her anxiety head-on. Eventually, she was able to walk away from her cancer journey with a new outlook on life.
Contributing: Marisa Sullivan
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