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Thursday April 29, 2010 started out just like any other day. It wound up being the day my husband's life, my life, and our daughters life and the life of everyone who loved us, and our beautiful son would be forever changed. The previous 2 wks. Nicholas showed signs of the common cold or flu. Our trusted pediatrician placed him on antibiotics to clear his symptoms up so he could cont... to be the active teen he loved to be. But the medication did not clear up the symptoms he complained about the continued to feel weak, frail, & very tired & mentioned slight headaches on & off. This was not Nicholas he just not seem himself not to eat, drink or smile with his beautiful blue eyes. We were concerned but not alarmed. The pediatrician advised us to take him to the emergency room for I.V. fluids of saline to give our son a boost of energy for a faster recovery. The E.R. dr also wrote orders for test whish all came back fine. Rick & I were still uneasy about taking Nicholas home in his condition. We decided to talk to the Dr. & pleaded to do a C.T.scan for peace of mind.Dr . appeared not to be concerned but for us he said he would go ahead & request the xray.We were worried & nervous but did not want to alarm Nicholas & Nicole. While we waited for the C.T. scan results the nurse escorted us to a much more comfortable room by this time it was about 10:30 pm.Rick seemed overwhelmed with fear but i assured him all would be fine. But that quickly changed. As we sit patiently and Nicholas sits quietly on the hospital bed. The Dr. arrives with the CT scan results, another nurse, & a counselor our stomachs sank. He sat on the bed beside Nicholas and said "I HAVE BAD NEWS" Nicholas you have a brain tumor & you have fluid in your brain that needs to be drained with immediate surgery. We wanted to collapse, scream, and cry and we did just that. We wanted to reverse the hands of time but we knew it was impossible. We wanted toour instincts to be wrong, that night a very scared young man faced surgery and unsure of what the future held. Friday April 30, 2010 surgery was scheduled as planned Nicholas hair would soon be shaved & he would be prepped to have fluid drained from his brain & a shunt be placed to cont. the drainage for many many years. After a week in the hospital Nicholas slowly recovered. After his release from the emergency hospital stay. We soon admitted Nicholas into Methodist Children's Hospital where some of Methodist TOP Dr's of Brain surgery & Oncology were known all over the world would take on Nicholas case. Dr. Bogave from the U.K. who does not work on pedo kids decided to do Nicholas Brain Surgery. And WELL KNOWN oncologist all over the world Dr. Mahendra Patel would trmt plan Nicholas case regardless if the tumor was malignant or benighn.Also Dr.Alter another specialist @ Methodist would be an Oncologist to see Nicholas through the trmt& Dr. Eng radiologist. We felt blessed to have the wonderful Dr's to look over our precious boy. Soon they decided to have Nicholas brain surgery scheduled on May17, 2010 first thing in the morning. The surgery would take 6-8 hrs. Nicholas smiled with bravery & said mom& dad i will be alright...but deep in our hearts we wept & cried fear of the results once the Dr. entered the brain. After the surgery was complete Dr. Bogave confirmed our fears the tumor was malignant stage 4 cancer. As Rick & I clutched each other tight with sadness & disbelief we had to get it together and stay strong for Nicholas & our family. We were ready to start treatment and start the odyssey to reclaiming our sweet son from the cancer cells that were trying to take over his brain. On his journey, we learned that pediatric cancer robs families of more children than any other disease. Together we can make a difference. Together we can improve children's odds children like our son whom we loved so much. Today his memory continues to touch the lives of many, friends, teachers, Dr's, Priest Father Eddie & other cancer famlies. Due to his FAITH & belief that The GOOD LORD had a plan for him to be called @ the young age. He is a true inspiration to us all. He will be GREATLY missed by his family....Nicholas had a FAVORITE it was called three little birds ...by...bob marly he said mom "don't worry every little things gonna be alright"
HE IS OUR HERO!!!!!!!! LOVE MOM, DAD, NICOLE FLORES