BOISE, Idaho — Every day, 43 kids in the united states are expected to be diagnosed with cancer, according to the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation. September marks Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
On Saturday, KTVB got a look at the reality of what it's like for one child fighting cancer in the Treasure Valle. Gabe Panzarello is 8 years old and like most kids, he likes theme parks, playing games with his friends and his favorite animals are sloths.
His mom, Danielle, told KTVB that Gabe spent from just after his first birthday to just before his fifth birthday getting Cancer treatment. He beat cancer shortly after that, but then when he was seven, his family started noticing bruises on his body that weren't going away.
“I was like, ‘No it's just because he's a little boy,’ but in the back of my mind I suspected something was wrong,” Danielle Panzarello said.
The 8-year-old said he too, though he was “Getting cancer again.”
Sure enough, doctors told the family that Gabe relapsed.
“I was very sad, but also kind of angry that it happened again, but I can’t really help that, they still don’t know how you get cancer,” Gabe said.
“I just felt like something was stolen from you because we were just getting back into the swing of being normal again, you know being able to go out and do things and not worry,” Danielle said.
This time around, the family learned about a clinical trial to treat leukemia using a new drug.
Blinatumomab is not chemotherapy, which is kind of what people think of when they think cancer treatment. But Blinatumomab is not that, it's immunotherapy, which means that it uses his own immune system to help find and get rid of the leftover cancer cells, said St. Luke’s Clinical Research Coordinator and Nurse, Amy Stukenholtz.
She said that during the trial Gabe had gone through three cycles of the drug.
"Three cycles meaning that he has gone through three 28 day infusions of the drug," she explained.
For all three of those 28-day infusions, he was in the hospital.
"It's not easy to see children have to go through something that is really difficult but it's amazing how resilient kids are and it's really inspiring," Danielle said. "Every day you go to work and you just realize your patients are so much better than you are and you strive to be as strong as they are every day."
"That's the reason i wanted to do it, I wanted to help other kids that have cancer because it is hard," Gabe said.
Gabe first got chemotherapy then these infusions with the hope of finding any remaining cancer cells that may not be visible. He's now finished with the trial drug but still goes into the hospital once a month. From now through December for the maintenance portion of the trial.
"My sister keeps saying if she had one wish it would be that I didn't have cancer and her birthday is in December so her birthday wish is going to come true," Gabe said.
Gabe said he wants everyone to know that if this ever happens to them - just believe in yourself and keep fighting. In the meantime, because he has already given a Make-A-Wish trip to Disneyworld the first time he beat cancer.
His family says they'll be planning their own and this time, Gabe said he wants to go to Hawaii.