Hi! My name is Alyssa, also known as Ezra’s mom. Ezra is five years old and was diagnosed with stage IV neuroblastoma cancer just a few months after his 4th birthday. We are a family of five and he’s the baby of our three boys, even though he was born less than a minute after his identical twin brother.

Being the youngest, never stopped him. Always the daredevil and willing to try anything for a laugh, he often led his brothers into some adventurous and fun, if not necessarily the safest play. It was a couple of weeks after his 4th birthday that we noticed a change in his usual exuberant demeanor. He began limping, he began having constant fevers, he began to have swelling around his eyes. It took us and his pediatricians almost three months to get the cancer diagnosis in November of 2020. Within 24 hours, we were medivaced down to Seattle Children’s Hospital. He didn’t even get to say goodbye to his brothers.

As Ezra’s mom and primary caregiver, I’m so thankful that my job was able to let me take leave and then work on a part-time capacity remotely in Seattle. My husband, unfortunately, has been flying back and forth to try to have some stability with our other kids and for work. However, with having to maintain essentially two households in Alaska and Washington, it’s been a struggle financially at times.

Also worth mentioning, COVID has put an extra strain on our family. Not only are we in constant fear of Ezra catching any virus, due to his being immunosuppressed…there are increased restrictions due to COVID at the hospital and at Ronald McDonald, where we are being housed. This means his brothers cannot visit him in either facility. Our family has been physically separated for over a year, excepting a few weeks during the holiday season…we’re all taking things day-by-day, week-by-week, and month-by-month.

We are so thankful for the support of organizations, like Katie’s Handprint. It means we don’t have to think of whether we can afford to pay our mortgage, insurance, car payments, or other bills…or even if we have few extra funds to buy a special toy for Ezra or his brothers. Being a grantee just helps take some stress off of an already stressful situation. I was also touched to find out that they are based out of Eagle River. It’s where I grew up, where we have made our home, where we plan on raising our boys.

As of February 2022, Ezra and I are still in Seattle at Ronald McDonald House or inpatient at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Ezra is our little warrior and is still battling neuroblastoma. We’re all hoping that we can be together again soon. We’re praying for health and for home in Alaska.