Our hero of the day is Dylan.  Born in 2007, Dylan is from Vilonia Arkansas.  I had to check with Jack about Vilonia, and it is pronounced Vi-lon-ah.  It is a small town just north of Little Rock, Arkansas.  Dylan’s mom is Lena.  She is a proud mother of three.

Dylan lived a relatively normal childhood.  The usual bumps and bruises that most kids suffer.  At the age of five Lena noticed a knot on Dylan’s head.  She thought it was odd because Dylan had not complained nor had she seen him bump his head.  The knot was the size of a golf ball.  So Lena took Dylan to see their local pediatrician on a Thursday.  The doc looked at it and said that he probably just bumped his head and told her to watch it and if it didn’t get smaller to come back in a few weeks.

Mom didn’t think that was right, but she figured she’d at least give it a week to see if the swelling would go down.  By the following Monday, it was still swollen and had not gone down, and Lena just had an eerie feeling about the whole thing.  She took Dylan back to see the doc, and he did an ultrasound on his head, and they found a lesion in his skull.

From there, they were sent to Little Rock to the Children’s Hospital.  And while there on 05OCT12, the doctors diagnosed Dylan with Histiocytosis.  Histiocytosis is the general name for a group of disorders that involve an abnormal increase in the number of immune cells called histiocytes.  The three major classes of histiocytosis are:

•    Langerhans cell histiocytosis, which is also called histiocytosis X

•    Malignant histiocytosis syndrome (now known as T-cell lymphoma)

•    Non-Langerhans cell histiocytosis (also known as hemophagocytic syndrome)

Then on 23OCT12 Dylan had surgery to remove the tumor from his skull.  The doctors thought that they were able to remove the entire mass.  But upon further scans, it was revealed that there was still a small piece of the tumor that had attached to the lining of Dylan’s brain.  Dylan began a grueling year of treatment with chemotherapy to clean up the last bit of the tumor.

Dylan made it through the chemo process like a champ.  He came through with flying colors and has been in remission for over a year and a half now.  Mom is very proud of Dylan for being the strong kid she knew he could be.  Dylan is eight now, and the family hopes for many more years just like the past year and a half.

Today, 06JUN15 I ride in honor of a hero.  A hero named Dylan Goode.  A young man that survived a rare form of cancer that only stricken about 1 out of 200,000 children.  He is a survivor.  I am honored to ride in your name and hope that your day is as blessed as I know mine will be while I ride in your name.  Keep living life on your terms Dylan, godspeed Ken.

If you would like to share your child’s battle with cancer and allow Ken to honor your hero/angel then email: ken@kens10000milesforchildhoodcancer.com