Aino

We are a modern day “big family” because we have five kids. Oh, and in addition to that, there are also a mom and dad in the house. Our children have small age differences and they mean everything to each other. 

We were living an ordinary everyday family life; school, work, hobbies, and we were also finishing our house that we had built by ourselves. Then, almost a year ago in March 2014, this lovely everyday life was turned upside down and there was no coming back…

Our oldest child Aino, who was then nine years old, was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma. This cancer devil did not care to make any notice of itself before and then, when discovered, it was widely spread. After we received the news, it felt very unreal and I remember thinking many times that ‘soon I will wake up and this will all be just a bad dream’. 

There have been so many tears, so much sorrow, anguish and pain. Our DEAR child who has her whole life in front of her gets this cancer. Us parents were in a haze but Aino informed us immediately that this ‘bad’ will be treated away from her and she will recover. 

The treatment started immediately and it has worked well. Aino has gone through seven treatment periods of cytostatic, and in August 2014 her adrenal gland, that still had the last bits of tumor in it, was removed. All the metastatic growth had disappeared as a consequence of the cytostatic. In November, it was time for the big treatment and the stem cell transplantation. Aino has survived through all these different phases admirably, and the strength, perseverance and her positivity have been her winning cards in this battle.

You are our child and we are so proud of you.

Now it’s the new year, and there are new challenges ahead when the radiation therapy begins after a few weeks. Aino is feeling well and has recovered from the stem cell transplantation. For this year, we wished for health and lots of love! 

In the beginning, there were many phases that we had to go through until we were able to recover from the shock and see that life goes on and we will survive this. The siblings have been a great support for each other and they have glued together even more. We have learned a lot about life and we are so happy for each day; life is a gift! 

We are also very grateful for the skilled and lovely doctors and nurses at the Kuopio University Hospital! We know that Aino is receiving the best possible treatment. 

We are a big family and so happy for that…