MEET OUR KIDS

Stephen Unsworth

Leukemia. The word still makes me lose my breath. A single word that changed our lives forever.

Stephen was 4 years old last fall when a relentless fever ravaged his little body. After 9 days, tests showed that he only had 1/3 of the blood he needed to survive. We frantically went to Hasbro Children’s Hospital where we met Dr. Peter Manley in the ER. His name tag read Pediatric Hematology/Oncology. I immediately explained, almost pleading, that this doctor was in the wrong room. We did not need oncology. This was not cancer. This could not possibly be happening to our son.

“Once we were able to sort through the chaos and question where this help was coming from, we learned about The Tomorrow Fund – an organization that we knew nothing about, but were soon to be tremendously grateful for.”

The very next day, every parent’s worst nightmare became our reality. On October 27, 2005, Stephen was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, a date that will forever represent devastation and strength for us. We fell apart, we put ourselves back together, and we began the most difficult and powerful fight of our lives.... saving Stephen.

Information flowed like a river, and to our surprise, Leukemia was a very treatable and curable cancer. We were advised that the goal was to have Stephen in remission in 29 days with three years of chemotherapy treatments to follow. Treatment began immediately with surgery to place a port in his chest, blood transfusions, spinal taps, injections, and chemotherapy drugs that were extremely intense and carried possible side effects as damaging as the cancer itself.

We spent several weeks in the hospital consumed with uncertainty. How were we going to get through the next three years of treatment? Expenses were accumulating quickly and my husband and I were both on unpaid leave form work to care for our family.

In the midst of this turmoil, we were handed books full of information, as well as emotional support and financial support to help with the overwhelming expenses. Once we were able to sort through the chaos and question where this help was coming from, we learned about The Tomorrow Fund – an organization that we knew nothing about, but were soon to be tremendously grateful for.

The Tomorrow Fund is the only local non-profit organization that provides daily emotional and financial support to children with cancer and their families.

We are now one year into our 3-year treatment routine and we are fortunate that Stephen’s prognosis is excellent. The Tomorrow Fund Clinic has become a second home for us and the people who make The Tomorrow Fund what it is have become members of our extended family. This is a battle that we are going to win and behind us is the support of The Tomorrow Fund.

Nina & Stephen Unsworth
Parents of a cancer survivor

We’ve been helping children with cancer for 20 years!

There is a child with cancer in every city and town in RI and nearby MA who is being helped by The Tomorrow Fund.

Last year, children with cancer spent more than 2,500 nights in Hasbro Children’s Hospital.