Shepard’s Fight

Hello everyone,

Im not the one to ask for anything but definitely am asking for help now. My best friend and his family are dealing with something no family should. It would mean the world to me and them if you could donate even just a dollar to help them to help ease some burdens that they are facing. I appreciate time and help!

Family and friends,

It is with sadness that we share some news that no parent ever wants to share. Here is Shepards story:

About 5 weeks ago, Shepard had a low grade fever. Of course I didn’t think much of it. Surely he was just teething. However by the weekend his fever did not go away and by this point it was quite high. Still I thought it must be an ear infection or a virus. So I took him to the doctor that Monday. He was cleared of anything and was told “it must be viral” and to come back if it didnt go away. By Thursday, he still was waking up to high fevers so I took him back to the pediatricians. Once again, cleared of ear infection so they decided to do a blood draw to check into it further. Those results came back abnormal. Concerned for anemia, the doctor called over to Children’s Hospital of Richmond and sent us there right away. Once we were there, Shepard got many tests done to see what was going on. An ultrasound was ordered due to a slightly distended abdomen. When the doctor came back in, we heard the phase no parent would ever want to hear, “We found a mass in his liver”. Within 24 hours our world was flipped upside down. Shepard was admitted at CHoR right away where over the next 24 hours would be poked, prodded, scanned, and given his first blood transfusion for extremely low hemoglobin levels. By the next week we met with his surgeon and oncology team to discuss the plan. Shepard went in on Halloween to have a liver biopsy and a port placement because they were confident that what they would find would be consistent with their suspicion. Shortly after, it was confirmed that Shepard was diagnosed with an extremely rare liver cancer, Hepatoblastoma. So rare, that the chance of this happening is about 1-2 cases per million children per year. Crazy right?! By the next week Shepard started his first round of chemotherapy. He is one very strong and very brave little boy! We are hopeful and trusting in the Lord to see us through this very challenging season of our lives. With all of this craziness going on, even with insurance coverage, the medical bills are already racking up, so any little bit helps. We are extremely thankful and grateful for our support system of friends, family, and church surrounding us. Please join us in prayer for healing over our sweet Shepard boy! #shepstrong

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

-Love the Moreno’s