Ann-Marie T.

July 17 1990-April 28 1998
Ann-Marie has her wings and soars.
Wilms Tumor

Ann-Marie came into this world on July 17 1990 and sadly left our world on April 28 1998. She left ours and went to His kingdom. She peers down from above keeping a watchful eye over her little sister Chantale who was one at the time of her passing. Her mom and dad miss her but know that she will always be alive in their hearts. The love and bond that parents have between a child is very strong. The umbilical cord is never cut from their hearts. It extends as far as it needs to. Anne Marie was a special child, as all her relatives knew.  She was like most little girls. She liked to giggle and laugh and play with her dollies. She especially liked animals. Her favorites were cats. In her home she had a menagerie of animals, a canary, a turtle a rabbit and a fish tank filled with fish. She loved to collect rocks and had an assortment from different outings. Every rock with a meaning for her. She loved to figure skate and enjoyed it up until a few months before her passing. She was only 7 when she passed but had dreams of one day being an astronaut, floating among the stars. One cant help but think she got her wish. She’s out there watching from high above. Anne Marie was never ill until one day she complained of a sore tummy. Her parents noticed her stomach being bloated and took her to the doctors immediately. Doctors knew something was drastically wrong and ordered an ultra sound. The same day doctors told us of her illness they also told her mom that she was pregnant. Ecstatic and bewildered, not knowing what was to come with Anne-Marie. Focusing all their attention to Anne-Marie. Soon after that they were told she had a mass on her kidneys. She was operated on and the mass and one of her kidneys removed. She had wilms tumor. Total shock and fear took over their bodies, minds and souls. They were rushed down to Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto. They started chemotherapy on her and it seemed to be working for a time. The mass had grown at a rapid rate and was 5 pounds when removed. She never complained of her aches and pains, always taking her meds when she needed them. Within two weeks there was no sign of the tumor. Could have been the blessing her parents had prayed for.  For nine months she was in remission, then she was in for a check up and again a mass was found and yet again a biopsy performed and surgery ordered to have it removed.  Anne Marie had another mass that was larger than her last tumor. She first got sick in spring of 96, her little sister was born on April 28th of 97, and it was now September of 97. A year and so many changes in their lives. Again she needed to get therapy. Doctors recommended experimental therapy this time because chemo could destroy her only kidney left. In January of 98 the experimental treatments began. The cost would have been astronomical to a family that did not have coverage. For a ten days session it cost $1,200.00 and thirty dollars a day for nausea pills. They did one session and were to do the second but Anne-Marie was so violently ill, they stopped. They had to return to the radical chemotherapy. Doctors had hoped they could give Anne-Marie a bone marrow transplant and irradicate the disease from her system. But the chemo was not working; the mass had grown back again, this time with a resistance to all the drugs being tried. She was sent home at the end of March and was scheduled for bone marrow on May 15th. Sadly she passed away on April 28th 98, her sister Chantale’s very first birthday. Anne Marie will always be remembered for the loving and caring child that she was and is. Reflecting back on her life while she was ill, Anne-Marie was so brave during her illness. While at Ronald Macdonald house, she talked with other sick children. Some having less side effects than she and some having more, she interacted with them like they had been friends for a long time. In the whispers her mom overheard her say.” I might die too, but I’m not afraid” and went right on playing. Almost like she knew what was to come. Being with all the parents and children in Ronald McDonald house gave them a feeling of unity. Being so far from home it gave them strengths to draw on and people to relate to. Others to rely on, and to lean on. They all needed one another to make it through each day. Thank you Ronald McDonald house and Toronto’s Hospital for sick kids. To think of the cost that was paid out for experimental testing and knowing all parents would have paid every last penny on this world to save their baby. Please help find cures. This has to stop. The pain has to stop. Anne-Marie is sadly missed by her parents Michelle and Marc and her little sister Chantale age 3.