Removing a 16 cm Tumor and Surviving Against All Odds, He is Now the "Heart" of His Class!

"If he can’t be cured, I’ll go with him.”  

As a mother of a child with stage four neuroblastoma, Ms. Zhou knows exactly what it feels like.  

She has a very adorable son named Alex, “a mischievous, lively little guy who talks a lot.” This is not an exaggeration; it’s the truth.  

In her eyes, Alex always has chubby cheeks, big ears, and “somewhat small” eyes. He loves to laugh, and when he does, his eyes resemble crescent moons, sparkling with light.  

His little mouth is always chattering away; once he starts talking, he can go on forever. Every time he gets into trouble, ready to “explode,” just one look at that signature smiling face and hearing a soft “Mommy” deflates all her frustration.  

But happiness didn’t last long; an unexpected incident changed everything for this small family in rural Henan.  

It was the winter of 2019, shortly after the Spring Festival, and Alex had just turned one and a half.  

Initially, it was just indigestion; he often couldn’t eat much, only a little at each meal. Gradually, he started to feel weak and would get tired and breathless after running for a while. Occasionally, he would seem disoriented, and at times, he couldn’t maintain normal communication.  

After a series of unusual symptoms, Ms. Zhou decided to take Alex to a nearby clinic for examination, then to the First People's Hospital in their area, but they couldn’t find the cause.  

Two months later, during playtime, the family discovered a lump on the right side of Alex’s abdomen and quickly rushed him to the Third People's Hospital in Zhengzhou for an ultrasound.  

On April 6, 2020, two months after the initial symptoms appeared, the tumor in Alex’s abdomen had grown to 16 cm due to delays in treatment and had already invaded his bone marrow. The doctors gave the family a verdict with an extremely low chance of recovery.  

Ms. Zhou, despite being a petite woman, couldn’t help but cry every time she thought about Alex’s illness even three years later. Yet, she remained a strong mother, fiercely dedicated to getting her son the treatment he needed. During that time, she would often tell Alex’s dad, “If he can’t be cured, I’ll go with him.”  

“When I came out of the ICU and saw him, he cried. I held him and cried too.”  

Due to the size of the tumor, the first step in Alex’s treatment was to shrink the tumor through chemotherapy. At the time, the chemotherapy would last four to five days, and he had to stay in bed the entire time. The tumor was so large that it pressed on his nerves, leaving him drained of energy.  

By August 2020, Alex was undergoing chemotherapy.  

Alex was very understanding and rarely cried. Occasionally, he just couldn’t stay still, so he would sit in a little cart, pushed by his mom while his dad held the IV bag, and the three of them would stroll through the hospital corridors.  

On October 13, six months after his illness began, it was Alex’s second birthday, and Ms. Zhou bought a cake to celebrate together. Soon after, he was scheduled for surgery and was fortunate to have the chief surgeon from the Beijing Children’s Hospital perform the operation.  

The surgery went smoothly, but he had to stay in the ICU for three full days before they could see him.  

Time seemed to drag on during those days. “When he finally came out, he saw me and cried. He looked so pitiful, and I cried too as I held him.”  

After the surgery, Alex underwent two more rounds of chemotherapy. This time, perhaps because the pressure from the tumor had lessened, he seemed much more energetic, lifting the spirits of the entire family. He then underwent 14 rounds of radiation therapy, and on January 8, 2021, Alex officially finished his treatment!  

Because Alex’s white blood cell count was low, he was prone to infections during chemotherapy and would often have to stay in a sterile room until his counts improved before being moved back to a regular ward, and this cycle repeated itself.  

During that time, Ms. Zhou was on edge, her emotions like a rollercoaster, not wanting to look at test results for fear that any one of them might be bad news. When she finally saw everything was normal, it was an instant relief.  

However, the family’s savings were quickly depleted due to the enormous expenses. They spent tens of thousands in the first month alone, totaling around 300,000 yuan. With no source of income, they had to borrow money, repay loans, and then borrow again.  

Fortunately, all of it was worth it; Alex gradually recovered.  

Now, Ms. Zhou continues to take Alex for regular check-ups, which have changed from once every three months to once every six months. This year’s Spring Festival will mark his sixth visit.  

No worldly expectations, just a wish for him to be carefree.  

On October 13, 2021, Alex celebrated his first birthday after being discharged from the hospital. Ms. Zhou thoughtfully decorated their home and bought Alex his favorite dinosaur balloons.  

Since Alex had spent so much time in the hospital, Ms. Zhou put in a lot of effort to help him readjust to society.  

She gave up her previous job and chose to work at the nearest kindergarten as a teacher. Before school started, she took Alex to familiarize him with the environment and contacted his class teachers, even sliding down the slide with him to help him enjoy kindergarten.  

In daily life, she pays close attention to hygiene and frequently disinfects their home. She strictly controls his diet, ensuring he eats less junk food and tries to eat to his fill. They also minimize risks of bumps and bruises when going out to play.  

With such meticulous care, Alex’s weight and height are now perfectly normal, and he looks just like any other child his age. As the oldest student in his class, he has become the “heart” of the group; when he moves, all his classmates follow suit, and they get along very well.  

Two years have passed, and although Alex is now healthy, the experiences of those two years still weigh heavily on his mother’s heart. The 300,000 yuan spent on treatment came from borrowing from relatives and selling off possessions. The construction market has been poor, and Alex’s dad often struggles to find work, leaving them in a constant financial bind, yet their love for Alex has never diminished.  

She takes pride in saying, “The fruits he loves, like strawberries, bananas, apples, and oranges, have never run out!”  

Like every mother, Ms. Zhou hopes her child receives the best.  

If there’s anything different about her expectations, it’s that they have no worldly aspirations for their child; they simply wish for him to live a carefree life and grow old happily.  

Post-Interview Reflection  

In the face of the deep bond between Alex and his mother, words seem so pale.  

The suffering endured by every child with neuroblastoma and the unwavering love and determination from their parents and family is immeasurable and deeply felt. Words of comfort feel inadequate! We hope their story reaches more people and that other children receive timely and correct help without misdiagnosis, so they can all pull through together!  

Narrated by: Alex’s Mom  

Interview & Writing: Jiao Jiao  

Editing: UU  

Formatting: Xia Yu  

Proofreading: Ya Li