Hickman infant fights cancer

Feb. 09--Centerville couple Donnie and Marianne Conley's infant son Jace was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, cancer in the adrenal gland, when he was eight days old. He's now four and a half months old and undergoing chemotherapy.

"They referred to it as a mass -- I don't think they like using the word tumor, just like they don't like using the word cancer," Marianne Conley said.

During her pregnancy, Conley's doctor referred her to a specialist after seeing possible tumors on Jace's penis and kidney. But the specialist said everything was fine.

Eight days after Jace was born, the couple visited a urologist to correct a birth defect in his urethra. Once the doctor was finished, he asked if they wanted anything else checked and the Conleys asked if he would scan Jace's kidney.

When the doctor came back, he told them there was a tumor on one of Jace's adrenal glands, directly above the kidney.

"They said it was about golf ball size. At six or seven weeks, it had jumped up to tennis ball size," Donnie Conley said. "If we had never asked that doctor to look at his kidney, we have no idea where we would be. Because if it was that aggressive, it could have been fatal by now."

Originally, doctors thought the tumor had a chance of going away on its own, Donnie Conley said. But when they realized how quickly it was growing, Jace was scheduled to undergo surgery.

"We thought, we'd go and have surgery and then you won't have to worry about it," Donnie Conley said. "He'll be cancer free and then go on to live a normal life. And it's been anything but that for the last four or five weeks."

Jace's adrenal gland was removed Nov. 19. Six weeks later, doctors determined the tumor had been successfully removed. During the scan however, they discovered another tumor on Jace's other adrenal gland.

"It was just like heartbreak all over again," Marianne Conley said.

Because one of Jace's adrenal glands has already been removed, surgery isn't an option.

"He'd have to be on some hormone medicine for the rest of his life, and we're trying to avoid that," Donnie Conley said.

The doctor recommended Jace undergo chemotherapy at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital. His first round was from Jan. 13-15 and the second will be Feb. 29.

"He's been wonderful," Donnie Conley said. He and his wife were worried Jace would be sick or lose all of his hair due to chemotherapy, but there haven't been any side effects yet.

He said doctors have told him if the tumor's size decreases after two rounds, Jace stands a good chance of recovering.

"They said if it was half the size of what it was originally, they'll stop because the chemo is doing its job," Donnie Conley said. "Based on his size and the size of the tumor, and the potency of the medicine -- he should be okay after two rounds. But we won't know until they scan it."

Their first child, Jace's 12-year-old brother Andrew "never even had a cold. This is totally new to any of us," Donnie Conley said.

Marianne Conley said her pregnancy with Jace was very difficult and she had an emergency C-section during the delivery.

"It's been a rough four months," Donnie Conley said.

Donnie Conley's father passed away before Jace's surgery. Their car broke down on the way back from the first round of chemotherapy. A few days later, the heat went out in their house.

"It's been a test after test after test," Marianne Conley said.

She said she tries not to focus on Jace's illness. "To me in my head, he's not sick -- he's normal. That's how I have to deal with it. How I make it through a day is, 'My baby's normal. He's just as normal as my other son was,'" Marianne Conley said.

Both Conleys said the community has rallied around them.

"We've had multiple people and churches sends cards, money and toys. One lady from Mt. Pleasant sent some toys. She said she had a son his age and she couldn't imagine going through that," Marianne Conley said.

Their Facebook page, Prayers for Jace, has 3,383 likes as of Monday afternoon.

Donnie Conley said visitors and commenters on the page include "people from Hawaii all the way over to Alaska. There's really so many people we can't keep track of who all everybody is. It's cool to think you've got that many people praying and sending well wishes."

"God's going to get us through this, without a doubt," he said.

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