Mayberry Family

Mayberry Family

Noah Mayberry Story: Everything is going to be OK

Noah Mayberry is your typical 8 year old boy (getting ready to turn 9 on August 23, 2009). He loves to play with his buddies, ride his bike or scooter, play sports, go fishing and play his video games. Noah has an older sister (Amber) that he really likes hanging out with and occasionally likes to aggravate. He enjoyed his first year of Tackle football last year where he was a Defensive Lineman for the Tega Cay Warriors. Noah also is very good at Basketball and enjoyed a great season last year on a team with all his buddies. Noah's favorite thing to do on any day that ends in "Y" is to go FISHING. He will drop anything in a second to head down to the lake and get a line wet. He recently won his first fishing tournament. The Tega Cay Angler's Club hosted a Kids Fishing Tournament in June and Noah won for the biggest fish in his age group and for the most accurate cast. This just proved to Noah that his dream of growing up to become a Professional Fisherman was going to come true (I told you Mom).

Anyone who knows Noah will tell you he is a great kid. He is very laid back and always has a smile. Noah has a way of always finding the good in any situation. We recently took a trip to the Bahamas and had to spend the night in Florida before the trip over to the island. The hotel had us (a family of 4: Mom, Dad, Amber & Noah) in a room with one bed and no room for a roll out. Well for Amber, Mom and me this was not going to work. Noah on the other hand, jumps on the bed and says "hey this is great; we all get to sleep in the same bed." You just can't help but smile or bust a gut laughing when you're hanging with Noah. Once a very shy toddler, he has busted out of that shell and will now talk to you about anything and everything and will always leave you with a smile.

Noah has been virtually illness free all his life. He had a broken arm at 2 1/2 years old falling off a swing, he cracked his growth plate in his heel last year (playing football with no shoes on) and has had stitches once (typical active kid). He started having some pain in his right hip in early spring 2009. The pain was mild and we would give him some Ibuprofen. The pain would go away. If Noah was very active sometimes the pain would return but was always short lived and after resting would go away. We were concerned and took him to the doctor. The pain could not be duplicated and was explained away as soreness or a slight muscle strain. Then early one morning in June Noah woke up screaming and crying in pain. Based on the location I assumed appendicitis. We rushed him to the ER and by the time we arrived the pain had gone from a pain level of 200 to a 2. They checked him over and took some X-Rays but nothing showed up. We were referred to an Orthopedic Doctor. The Doctor examined Noah and wrote the pain off to "Growing Pains." This seemed to make sense. Noah is a big kid 4'9" 106lbs. So they had us give him some stronger Ibuprofen. The pain did not go away. We were then referred to a Rheumatologist. The Doctor was now thinking maybe Noah had Juvenile Arthritis. They gave him some Anti-Inflammatory pills but nothing was stopping the pain. Noah was referred to a Rheumatologist at Duke Children's Hospital. After about an hour of asking questions and doing a physical exam the Doctor knew it was not Arthritis and ordered an MRI. This was when the unthinkable became a reality. The MRI showed a Tumor in Noah's right pelvis area.

The next few days were the hardest. We (Mom, Dad, friends and family) were praying for the best and fearing the worst. The Doctor's were not able to do a biopsy until Monday 07/20/09. That Monday came and the biopsy was performed. They did a biopsy of the Tumor and a Bone Marrow biopsy as well. After the surgery the surgeon confirmed that the tumor was malignant and that he felt the biopsy would confirm that Noah had a form of Cancer know as Ewing's Sarcoma. Later that day we received the news that the Cancer was in the Bone Marrow also. Three days pasted and finally the Pathology reports came in to confirm the Doctors original thought. Noah did in fact have Ewing's Sarcoma.

Amber and Noah.jpg

Later that day Kelly, Noah and I had a talk about what was causing him to be in pain. We had to tell our 8 year old son that he had cancer and that he was going to have to under go Chemo-Therapy. Kelly did a great job explaining this to Noah in a way that he could understand what was going on in his body and how the treatments were going to affect him. This is a conversation no one should ever have to have, especially with an 8 year old boy. Of course this was a very emotional talk and both Kelly and I were crying, Noah in his "Glass is always Full" way reaches out grabs my shoulder and says "don't cry Dad, everything is going to be alrigh." Noah had his first Chemo treatment on 07/24/09 and will continue going every two weeks. He took the Chemo well and had very few side effects. We were able to bring him home on 07/27/09. Noah said on the day he had his Biopsy that "this was the worst day of my life" we told him he was right and to never forget that because everyday after that is one day closer to beating this thing. Noah is such an inspiration to us all and you know what? Noah is absolutely right..."Everything is going to be O.K."

We want to thank everyone for all the love, prayers and support we have received. We feel truly blessed to have such a great family, unbelievable friends and such a wonderful community. Please keep Noah in your prayers and thoughts as he continues his battle with Cancer and we will do our best to keep everyone up to date on his progress.

Sincerely, The Mayberry Family July 30, 2009

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Bill Stumpf, CEO Tega Cay Neighbors Helping Neighbors

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