Jeremy Banish
“Jeremy will be celebrating his 17th birthday this year, after being diagnosed with neuroblastoma in 2005…at age 4. He was stage IV, amplified, unfavorable and he was given a 10% chance of survival. At the time, the information available regarding neuroblastoma had little hope and it was very bleak. Having lived through it – he’s a walking miracle.
When something like this happens, you have to take it day by day and most days I was on autopilot. You never want to think that it’s your child in there who is sick. Neuroblastoma is not a cookie cutter cancer, it’s an evil thing. It’s hard on the family, the siblings and basically everyone involved. We got through this with incredible support. We always had the group of parents and there is always support no matter what. The bond is still strong today and we are all bound by hope. It’s amazing to see how far things have come. It made our whole family stronger. You don’t sweat the small stuff anymore.
The information that’s out there now is so hopeful, there is so much to look forward to, it’s amazing. We started at Sloan (Kettering) after his bone marrow transplant and have been with them ever since. He did 8 rounds of the 3F8 antibody treatment, which was the only thing available at the time. Now, years later, he has a yearly checkup and no more scans – we never thought we’d see that day.
Jeremy has a passion for animals and volunteers time at the humane society. He also likes to fish, play video games, and hang out with his friends. He finds his way through things based on this experience. There is always hope, never give up hope.” – Terri Banish, Jeremy’s Mom
