5-Year-Old Celebrates Being Cancer-Free After Spending Over A Year In The Hospital

Cancer is ruthless. It doesn’t discriminate against age, gender, nationality, or anything else. It’s heartbreaking when someone is diagnosed with cancer, but it’s even worse when that someone is a child.

When Slater Bushman was just four years old, he was diagnosed with Stage 4 High-Risk Neuroblastoma.

According to the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Stage 4 High-Risk Neuroblastoma is when the original tumor has spread to lymph nodes in other parts of the body, bones, bone marrow, liver, skin, and/or other organs.

While Slater’s prognosis was grim, he immediately got checked into St. Jude Children’s Hospital and started on intensive treatments. His family wasn’t going to lose hope and Slater proved to be a fighter.

His parents and older brother moved to Memphis, Tennessee to be near the hospital and they started a Facebook page to share about Slater’s journey with photos, videos, and updates on his progress.

At 4 years old, most kids are looking forward to preschool and playdates, but Slater had to undergo surgeries, stem cell transplants, chemotherapy, bone marrow transplants, radiation, and immunotherapy. Months passed, and Slater celebrated his 5th birthday from the hospital.

It was a long and emotional journey, but after 425 days in the hospital, Slater was declared cancer-free and could make his way home to Florida.

Before he was officially discharged from the hospital, the staff at St. Jude’s threw Slater a huge celebration complete with balloons, confetti, gifts, and a song.

You can see by the smile on Slater’s face that he’s thrilled about the celebration – and equally thrilled about the prospect of going home.

You can watch the celebration in the video below:

Slater’s recovery is nothing short of a miracle.

The Isabella Santos Foundation reports that the specific cancer Slater was diagnosed with is rare and affects just 800 children each year. They further note that the cancer has a high mortality, saying, “Neuroblastoma has one of the lowest survival rates of all pediatric cancers and accounts for 15% of all pediatric cancer deaths…The 5-year survival rate for high-risk Neuroblastoma is 50%.”

The family shared Slater’s story on the Facebook page to recount the emotional journey from diagnosis to remission.

Check out the video below:

According to the Isabella Santos Foundation, approximately 60% of patients with high-risk Neuroblastoma will relapse. “Once in relapse, the survival rate drops to less than 5%.”

Here’s to hoping and praying that Slater remains cancer-free and can enjoy the rest of his childhood!