Daily Iowan

Issue date: 1/30/08 Section: Metro

Media Credit: Whitney Wright/The Daily Iowan

Cameron Christiansen is proud of his ninja-attack scar.

The 8-inch long gash just above his belly button is what's left from a fight he had with a warrior wearing black, red, and green - and a little bit of blue.

"And he was carrying a big sword," Cameron described, giggling as he brandished an imaginary lance over his shoulder.

The heedful 8-year-old prefers his contrived version of the scar's origin, because, he said, the real explanation is much more difficult to talk about.

Cameron was diagnosed with Wilms' tumor more than five years ago after his parents - on a mini-family vacation to Chicago - noticed blood in their potty-training 2 1/2-year-old's urine.

Wilms' tumor is a type of childhood cancer that occurs in the kidneys.

Seven surgeries, four tumors, and dozens of chemotherapy and radiation treatments later, Cameron now attends second grade at Mulberry Elementary in Muscatine on a regular basis. He likes dinosaurs, spaghetti, and barbecue Pringles, and he has an obsession with video games.


"Every day that I see him playing Wii and acting like a normal kid, it gives me more hope and settles my heart a bit," mother Marci Christiansen said, smiling at her bouncy son, who was attempting to knock out his seventh opponent in an interactive boxing video game. "A year and a half ago, I didn't even know what his future would hold, or if he'd even be here a year and a half later."

That's when doctors found two suspect places on Cameron's liver. Cancer for the third time.

His first raquetball-sized tumor was removed in 2002, along with his right kidney. After roughly six months of outpatient chemotherapy, doctors said Cameron was in remission. The following February, he complained about abdominal pain and cramping, and doctors found a softball-sized tumor attached to the end of his small intestine. It again required surgery and chemotherapy - this time for 13 months, with doctors tacking on 14 additional radiation treatments.

Christiansen thought her family was finally in the clear until a regular three-month check-up in the fall of 2006 revealed spots on Cameron's liver. Exploratory surgery confirmed Christiansen's worst fears.

One of the tumors hovered so close to a main vein that the slightest scalpel slip could cause Cameron to bleed to death. The tumor was deemed inoperable.

"That's when I'd talk to God a lot and ask him not to take Cameron away from me," she said, dabbing the corner of her eye. "There are times through all of this when I've lied on the floor next to his bed - not sleeping, just watching. Watching him breathe in and out. I just say over and over and over, 'Please don't take him.' "

Though Wilms' is the fifth most common childhood cancer with about 400 kids diagnosed each year, few children battle the disease three times, leaving doctors with a much less formal protocol for treatment.

But Christiansen refused to be left in the unknown. Cameron and his 6-year old brother, Conner, are her heart, the homemaker said.

"That's why I just keep pushing the docs, even when they just can't give me an answer," she said. "I tell them I'll sit here, and be patient, and wait until they get one. I don't care what it takes."

They eventually found her answer. Cameron underwent a chemical treatment that successfully shrunk the tumors to permit surgery. Doctors removed half of his liver and gave him such high doses of chemotherapy that he required a stem-cell infusion of his own previously harvested cells to reboot his immune system.

Cameron recovered in record timing - just soon enough to attend Heart Connection Camp, a weeklong program for children with cancer sponsored by Dance Marathon. He couldn't let down his favorite counselor, Brian Martin, who also serves as the Christiansen's Marathon family representative.

"I joke around to Marci and Cameron that I'll be that weird guy cheering him on at his high-school basketball game," Martin said, describing his relationship with a boy he calls the toughest kid he has ever met.

That's exactly what Cameron wants people to know about him.

"I want them to know I'm strong, brave, and courageous," he said, choosing his words carefully. "Because, I've been through all the cancer and -"

His mom helped: "And you're still standing."

"Yes," Cameron said. "I'm still standing."

E-mail DI reporter Kelsey Beltramea at:
kelsey-beltramea@uiowa.edu

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Cameron Christiansen
Age: 8
Lives in: Muscatine
Best buddy: 6-year-old brother Conner
Favorite subjects: math and gym
Loves: Pokémon, pepperoni pizza, Taco Bell
Hates: Shots
Special achievements: UI Sigma Chi little brother, Relay for Life Honorary Survivor in Muscatine Fourth of July parade

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