Posted January 10, 2002. With the events of September 11, year 2001 may forever be etched in our memories. It is not often that we wake up in the middle of the night and shed a tear for people we don't even know. Days following the attacks, with the images filling up the TV screen, it was almost impossible to watch without getting a lump in your throat.

     But for Dr. Aries Bajoyo (1992) and his wife Glenda, year 2001 was more than just September 11.

     They cried too. But for a more personal reason.

     Their only child, 3 year-old Elijah Jordan or 'Toto' as we call him, was diagnosed with cancer.

     It was February, 2001. My phone rang close to midnight. Only family members and a few close friends would call me during this time because only they know I'm a late sleeper.

     It was Aries. He told me he was in the hospital with 'Toto' Elijah who just had an x-ray and ultra-sound. And then Aries cried. 'Toto' had tumors in his chest and abdomen. Aries feared the worst at that time. He was thinking neuroblastoma.

     I was numb. In retrospect, I was ashamed of myself. I wasn't able to say anything right away. It was very difficult to react to such an unexpected news. To say I was shocked is an understatement. I was the first person Aries called. A few months back, 'Toto' Elijah was a very healthy boy playing with my daughter, Claudine, when they visited us in Chicago after a 16-hour drive from their home in Oklahoma. I told him we'll help pray for 'Toto'.

     Biopsy was done the next day and the result was very encouraging. It wasn't neuroblastoma as we feared but a non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, the 'highly treatable kind'. Chemotherapy would start right away. As of this writing, the tumors on Elijah's chest and abdomen are gone.

     This Christmas, we received a note from Aries and Glenda. The note was printed in a Christmas stationary and more or less summarized what they had been through this past year. I asked Aries's permission if I can share the note with you.

     Here's some parts of Toto Elijah's Christmas letter in his words with the help of Aries and Glenda:

     "...February, they told me I was sick. They said I had cancer. It made Mommy and Daddy very, very sad. It was the first time I saw Daddy cry. They put something on my chest called a port and they gave me medicine called chemotherapy. It made me feel much better. You gave me lots of presents and you prayed for me. Thank you very much. Mommy and Daddy said that your prayers made the medicine work. The tumor in my chest and tummy went away but Mommy and Daddy said that if you could please still pray for me. They tell me that I still need medicine for two years. They say I'm a brave boy. I don't cry when they poke my port and my finger. I tell people, 'When I grow bigger I wanna be a doctor like Daddy!'..."

     "This year we went to lots of places. We went to Lake Quachita in Arkansas and we rode horses! We went to Sea World in San Antonio to see Shamu. That was fun. We also went to Houston and went to the farm. I fed corn to the pigs and chickens, brown things called pellets to the goats and hay to the cows....We went to Dallas. We stayed in a hotel and there was a big mall called Galleria where we went ice skating. I was scared because Daddy couldn't skate very well and we would fall over."

     "Mommy is not so sad anymore. We play a lot and we go to the park to feed the ducks and geese. She's the greatest Mom! I go to school now and I can write my name and have lots of friends. When Dad is not seeing patients, he likes to ride his mountain bike. This year, he went to Winter Park, Colorado and he was in a 24-hour mountain bike race. He said he didn't come last. He also went to Mt. Ida in Arkansas to ride the Womble Trail. It was supposed to be a 37 mile trail but I think he rode further than that because he said he took the wrong trail. I don't think Daddy is very good at mountain biking. One time he was riding around the lake and I think he fell. He had a big, "bubu" on his eye, his lips got big on one side and he had lots of 'bum-aid' on his legs...."

     I talked to Aries on the phone just recently and I can hear Elijah in the background, giggling as any normal kid would do. His chemotherapy sessions have been reduced from once a week to a month. Elijah did not sound sick at all.

     Someday, when he is old enough to ride a mountain bike, and fast enough to beat his Dad in a 24-hour mountain bike race, he can look back at his father and say, "I beat you!"

     And yes, Elijah, you beat cancer, too.

     Aries shaved his head when Elijah started chemotherapy probably to show his son that losing hair is not bad.

     The two are growing their hair back.

     Prayers work.

     There's nothing more that Aries and Glenda could ask for.

Notes:

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