As I sit with Jonathan for hours in yet another hospital room, I find myself reflecting back on all that this 7 year old has been through in the past 3 1/2 years. We have put him through so much and he has accepted everything we have thrown at him with hardly a question.

Jonathan was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma in January, 1998 at the young age of 3 1/2. He underwent his first surgery shortly after diagnosis to try and remove the tumor and to have a central line put in but the surgeon told us there was no way that the tumor could come out safely. So we started 5 rounds of chemotherapy in hopes that it would shrink the tumor. He, of course, lost all his hair and a lot of weight. He let a close friend buzz his head, just as she did with her 3 boys. He actually loved it, as we all remarked how much the boys looked alike now. As the stubble fell out, Jonathan, always the joker, thought it was real funny to rub his head on Daddy’s pillow and get it covered with little hairs. For the 2 days before his 4th birthday, we collected his stem cells, so that we could later be able to give them back to him as a stem cell rescue or a BMT. The nurses from the Red Cross were great. They arranged for a party in his room, while he was hooked up to the machine, complete with hats, noise makers, and presents. He smiled, joked and was just his charming self for them as he loves surprises and presents. We expected to go on to radiation after the chemo but were told that external beam radiation was not possible, as it would damage both kidneys. So now what?

Our oncologist decided that we would try MiBG therapy, a specialized type of radiation, in hopes for killing off the 4 x 4 x 4 inch mass in his abdomen. They would attach radioactive iodine to MiBG, which is attracted to neuroblastoma, and inject it into him, kind of like radiation from the inside out. But we would have to travel to Edmonton, Alberta for this treatment. Off we went, knowing that Jon would have to be in isolation for anywhere from 24 to 48 hours. On the way to the University of Alberta Hospital we made a stop at Toys R Us to purchase anything he wanted to keep him amused during his hospital stay. But to our surprise he only wanted “another Batman” for himself and a Rugrats figure for his little brother, who was at home with Grandma and Grandpa. We traveled to Edmonton 4 times for treatments and once for another attempted surgery, only to be told, again, that it was inoperable. Between our trips to Edmonton for treatment, Jonathan was a normal little 4/5 year old who attended nursery school and then kindergarten making friends and playing just as hard as the other kids. With his hair grown back, you would not even think he had cancer and I think he could easily forget about it too and our monthly visits to the Cancer Care Manitoba Pediatric Clinic became a social visit for us all. Jonathan loves crafts and would sit right down and work on whatever the craft of the day was. Life was good! So good that we planned his wish trip. Through the Manitoba Chapter of the Make a Wish program, Jonathan, with our help decided that he would like to go to Disneyland or Disney World. We chose Disneyland as we could combine it with an extended stay in Palm Springs where a favorite uncle lives. Before we went Jonathan told everyone that we were going to Disneyland to see Uncle Jack.

Just before we left for California we found out that Jonathan’s tumor had grown a little. but he was relatively healthy and he had been looking forward to this for a long time so with the blessing of his doctor off we went to California. While there he had fun swimming in the pool, driving the go-carts and visiting Sea World and Disneyland. But we could see he was more tired and cranky than usual. On the two days that we visited Disneyland, Jonathan and his little brother both walked for 8 hours straight, Jon never missed a beat. As we were on our flight home, I found a large bump on his head, this scared me and I asked him if he had bumped his head (hoping that he had), but he said he could not remember doing anything. I also noticed that his abdomen and legs were swelling, by the time we landed, he was quite uncomfortable. To my horror he would not fit in the seat part of the luggage cart. He started to cry when I put him in and said it was too tight, then I started to cry as I realized what was happening. We were admitted to the hospital very shortly after our return. He had a new central line inserted, and we started chemotherapy immediately. He finished his first round of the new chemo on December 23, 1999. We were happy to be going home and thought we would be home for Christmas. But it was not to be, on the morning of December 24th he developed a fever, by late afternoon we knew we would be making the trip to emergency. We had a decision to make so we asked Jonathan and his little brother what do you want to do? Eat dinner together? OR decorate the Christmas Tree and open the presents that are under it? Well, you can guess which one they chose. After our little family gift exchange and dropping Kent off at Grandma & Grandpa’s once again, we arrived at Children’s Hospital Emergency at 8:00 p.m. We thought, being Christmas Eve that it wouldn’t be quite as busy as usual but we were wrong. Jon and I were transported to his room at on CK5 at 1:00 a.m. on December 25, 1999. In the morning there were presents for Jonathan at the end of his bed, Santa’s helpers had been busy. Santa, himself, came around later that morning and left Jonathan with a baby doll, hair clips, and ponytail holders. I explained that he was not the real Santa, only a well meaning helper and that there must have been a little girl in this room before him and Santa was confused. Jonathan said, without blinking an eye, “That’s OK, my friend Emily would like these, I can give them these presents to her.” He knew that Daddy would come later with whatever Santa had left under our tree. We did not leave the hospital until mid-January 2000 and only did one more round of chemo as an inpatient, then they let us do the chemo as an outpatient. This was much easier on all of us. Just knowing that you can sleep in your own bed at night helps you to get through just about anything during the 12 hours days at the hospital.

We continued on with the Topotecan/Cyclophosphimide combination for all of 2000. In April of 2000 we asked our primary oncologist if we could get a second opinion from a Neuroblastoma expert in the USA. She agreed to send Jonathan’s history and latest scans to Dr. Nai Kong Cheung at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in NYC. He is highly regarded as a Neuroblastoma expert. Among other things he had Dr. Michael P. LaQuaglia also look at the scans and he agreed to see us and to remove the tumor in Jonathan’s abdomen. After a long process our Provincial Health Insurance agreed to pay for 75+% of the surgery. So off we went to NYC in December 2000. After an 11 hour surgery Dr. LaQuaglia felt he got 95% of the tumor. Jonathan spent 7 days in ICU with every kind of monitor connected to him. He was so helpless and sick. But all we could think about was that after 3 years the Neuroblastoma tumor that was making him so sick was out and we could now go onto other treatments that were not open to us as long as he still had the tumor. We arrived home on December 24th to signs of “WELCOME HOME JONATHAN” and “MERRY CHRISTMAS JONATHAN” placed all down our road and in our yard. He was ecstatic to know all his friends had been thinking of him while we were in New York. After having one more round of chemo and then a CT and MiBG scan we were told that there was still some live tumor left in Jonathan’s abdomen. But again Dr. LaQuaglia came to our rescue; as soon as he saw the scans he wanted us back in NY. In March we returned to have him work his magic again. And this time when they did the follow-up scans we got the ALL CLEAR. Jonathan was N.E.D. finally after everything he has been through they declared that there was no cancer present in his body and that we should do his stem cell transplant right away. So here I sit for long hours with Jonathan in his hospital room as we wait for his stem cells to re-infuse and for his counts to start to rise so he can come out of isolation and get on with his life.

I remember when Jonathan was diagnosed I wrote on the cover of his treatment book. “1998 THE YEAR OF JONATHAN” thinking we would have to devote that year to him, one year of sickness, one year of having one income, one year of focusing more on him than his little brother, Kent; BOY WERE WE WRONG. Over the past 3 1/2 years as Jonathan has endured the pain of having a 2 lb. tumor in his abdomen, numerous surgeries, many rounds of chemotherapy and MiBG therapy he has never given up his fight. He has seldom complained and most times is willing to do whatever is asked of him. His courage and strength have enabled his family to fight with him.

Respectfully submitted to the JSF Foundation Bravest Kid Award by:
Ken & Brenda Watson, Jonathan’s Parents

When Jonathan was asked what he wanted for his "Bravest Kid" award Grand Prize, he replied: "Something the whole family can enjoy, like a pool."

Because of his incredible attitude and outlook on life, the JSF Foundation furnished Jonathan with his pool and installed it in the families backyard. The entire family is currently using the pool with Jonathan. Enjoy your prize Jonathan, you deserve it!