The
Brooks Cancer Story
Before July, 2007, Taylor was a normal teenager, looking
forward to starting as a freshman
at high school where she would be taking all honors and gifted classes. She is a first degree black belt in Tang Soo Do
and enjoyed playing soccer and
taking guitar lessons.
Taylor's life changed radically in July of 2007. We noticed that her stomach was swollen, and although she was dieting and doing quite a bit of physical exercise, it was not going down. We took her to her pediatrician for an examination and the doctor immediately sent us to Scottish Rite, a Children's Healthcare of Atlanta hospital. She was admitted and tests were begun. The doctors discovered there were tumors in her stomach and did a biopsy of her lymph nodes. On Friday, July 13, 2007, 6 days before her 14th birthday, we got the news that every parent dreads hearing. Taylor had cancer. Specifically, she had Stage IV Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumor cancer.
This is a very rare type of cancer and is usually found in boys. That same day, Taylor began her chemotherapy treatments. Because her cancer is rare and funding for children's cancer research is limited, her treatments are planned by the doctor searching for documented cases and trying these regimens to see if they deliver positive results. Taylor relapsed in early 2008. Taylor lost her battle with cancer and won a place in heaven just after 3AM on April 1, 2008 while her parents held her with her sister by her side.
Taylor's life changed radically in July of 2007. We noticed that her stomach was swollen, and although she was dieting and doing quite a bit of physical exercise, it was not going down. We took her to her pediatrician for an examination and the doctor immediately sent us to Scottish Rite, a Children's Healthcare of Atlanta hospital. She was admitted and tests were begun. The doctors discovered there were tumors in her stomach and did a biopsy of her lymph nodes. On Friday, July 13, 2007, 6 days before her 14th birthday, we got the news that every parent dreads hearing. Taylor had cancer. Specifically, she had Stage IV Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumor cancer.
This is a very rare type of cancer and is usually found in boys. That same day, Taylor began her chemotherapy treatments. Because her cancer is rare and funding for children's cancer research is limited, her treatments are planned by the doctor searching for documented cases and trying these regimens to see if they deliver positive results. Taylor relapsed in early 2008. Taylor lost her battle with cancer and won a place in heaven just after 3AM on April 1, 2008 while her parents held her with her sister by her side.
