Many of you know that Michael was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma, an aggressive and rare childhood cancer, in November 2003 at the tender age of 2 1/2. He was so brave and continues to be brave for others. Michael's full cancer story can be read by scrolling down. Today he continues to amaze us with his care and concern for others and his strength. Thankfully Michael's prognosis was excellent and today he is cancer free; however, the sad truth is that this is not the case for many children who are diagnosed with childhood cancers. This is why we have chosen to have a lemonade stand again this year to benefit Alex's Lemonade Stand. Alex's Lemonade Stand is committed to raising money and awareness for pediatric cancer causes, primarily research into new cures and treatments. For more information go to http://www.alexslemonade.org. For those of you in the area we will host our lemonade stand on May 22nd from 11 - 2 at the Parker Family Fun Fest at O'Brien Park, 10795 Victorian Drive, Parker, CO. Michael's Story We found out that Michael had Stage II Neuroblastoma on November 12, 2003. That was, without a doubt, the toughest day of our lives. At the time Michael was 2 years and 5 months old. It was an incidental finding. Michael had been experiencing some breathing problems which were initially diagnosed as bronchiolitis. The third time we went to the pediatrician she ordered a chest x-ray and that's when the mass was discovered. An enormous shock to us and the pediatrician. We were sent to The Children's Hospital in Denver via ambulance because of Michael's breathing problems. There he had a CT scan and that's when the ER doctor confirmed our fears that it was a cancerous tumor. The oncologist later told us that it was Neuroblastoma and the tumor was lodged in between his heart and his spine. However, the good news was that she was almost certain the cancer had not spread. They scheduled him for a tumor resection one week later. The oncologist and the surgeon wanted to give Michael a week to stabilize his breathing, but at the time they were unsure if the breathing difficulties were due to the tumor since there are still many unknowns about Neuroblastoma. Thankfully on November 21, 2003 Michael's tumor was removed successfully. Following the tumor resection he underwent several tests to determine that the cancer had in fact not spread. We were and are very fortunate! At Michael's 2009 annual check-up our oncologist declared that Michael is officially cured! This means no more cancer check-ups! Hooray!