McKenzie Alexandria Ward was born on October 31, 1996. She was always a very healthy child. Then, on May 8, 2000, she suddenly got very sick. She had was taken to the hospital, and we were told she had pneumonia. She had no other symptoms. We went back two weeks later for a follow up, and they said it was more prominent and had fluid around it. The doctor referred us to a lung specialist, and he ordered a CAT scan. On Memorial Day, we found out that our daughter had a tumor. It started in her spine, filled her abdomen, went up her diaphragm and sat behind her heart and lungs.

After all kinds of tests, we found out she had cancer -- neuroblastoma. She underwent chemotherapy for six months, and after repeated CAT scans and MRIs, we found no improvement. We opted to do surgery. They told us this was very risky, but we thought we had done all we could do -- the rest was left up to God and the surgeons.
After about fourteen hours of surgery, most of the tumor was removed. She still has some islands that were too risky and a tumor on her spine that has been stable for a year. We are so grateful she did so well. She has no feeling on her left side where they cleaned her spinal canal, but it's better than her being paralyzed all over.

We also had the help of a wonderful organization called Godstock. They stuck by us the whole way and had a benefit for McKenzie. They've become our family. We wanted to let everyone know McKenzie's been doing wonderfully for one year and hopefully will continue to do so. Also, we are very grateful for everyone's prayers and support throughout the battle with McKenzie.