In Loving Memory of Mitchell John Fraser

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You are listening to "There You'll Be"
By Faith Hill

God saw you getting tired
When a cure was not to be
So he closed his arms around you
And whispered "Come to Me".

In tears we saw you sinking,
We watched you fade away,
Our hearts were truly broken,
You fought so hard to stay.

But when we saw you sleeping,
Peacefully and free from pain,
We could not wish you back
To suffer that again.

So keep your arms around him, Lord,
And give him special care,
Make up for all he suffered,
That seemed to us unfair.

So many times we’ve cried,
If love could have saved you,
You never would have died.

Forever loved and greatly missed by your
Parents, Laura & John Fraser, sisters,
Kate-Lynn and Kelsey, and twin sister Madison

We love you!

Mitchell was born on February 3rd, 2000, as was his twin sister
Madison. They were a month premature but weighed 6lbs and
5lbs. 1oz. respectively. The twins were not a planned pregnancy
but were lovingly welcomed by my husband, John, myself and
our two older daughters, Kate-Lynn 8 and Kelsey 5.

Throughout their first year, Madison progressed more quickly
than Mitchell. We did not seem to be alarmed at first because
everyone says, boys develop slower than girls. As Mitchell was
our first and only boy, we didn't suspect anything to be wrong.

Approaching their first birthday in February 2001, with Mitchell
still lagging behind his sister, I scheduled an appointment to take
him to the Grandview Children's Centre in Oshawa for testing.
The pediatrician there thought it would be best if referrals were
made to a neurosurgeon as Mitchell's head had the same
circumference as an adult. They also ordered some blood tests
because he seemed a little lethargic and pale. The blood testing
showed he was severely anemic and they put him on an iron
supplement right away.

While we were waiting for the referral, the week prior to Easter
2001, Mitchell spiked a fever over a five day span. After taking
him on a couple of occasions to our local clinic, I was assured
that it was just a virus. Not satisfied, I took him the following
week to see the pediatrician who he had not seen since their six
month check up as our family doctor was following their progress.
Dr. Laifatt felt his stomach and was concerned that his liver was
enlarged. He sent us directly to our local hospital where we
were admitted and scheduled for an ultrasound. They told us
that the ultrasound would not likely be until the next day so my
husband went home with our other children. Little did I know
that Mitchell would have his ultrasound soon after my husband
left. The technician seemed to take a long time with the
ultrasound and then went to get a doctor who then took us to
another, more sophisticated machine for another ultrasound.
When she was done, she turned to me, patted me on the leg,
and said that Mitchell had a very large tumor in his abdomen.
No words can express the pain and fear I felt at that moment.
All the while, Mitchell was his usual happy, smiling self. I then
had the task of calling my husband on the phone and telling
him. We were devastated and now placed our son in the hands
of the doctors.

We went to the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto on April
19th, 2001 where we stayed for an initial period of six weeks
while Mitchell's tumor was biopsied and other testing completed.
The doctors told us he had a Stage III Neuroblastoma which is
a tumor on his adrenal gland, above his right kidney. It was
approximately two pounds in size. Mitchell underwent a
procedure to insert a port into his chest whereby the IV and
other medications could be run. After an infection, he needed
to have a central venus line inserted into his chest. Both of
these procedures were done by the surgeons at HSC.

We started our protocol which was to be four rounds of chemo,
stem cell harvest, surgery, radiation and stem cell transplant. If
all went well, we would be done by November 2001.

Mitchell became immune to the first form of chemo and we
became aware that the tumor had sprouted on September 7th,
2001 (our tenth wedding anniversary). We then had two more
rounds of a different chemo only to find that it wasn't working
either. By November 2001, he had developed another tumor
between his lungs which was pushing up on his bronchial tubes.
We radiated that tumor for five days and the next CT showed
it was "gone".

Throughout his treatment, Mitchell learned to walk and was quite
the sight running up and down the hospital corridors with me
pushing the iv pole behind him. He always had a smile on his
face and blew kisses to all the nurses. He would even bat his
eyes at them. He was such a flirt.

Still trying to reduce the size of the original tumor, we started a
third type of chemo in November. By December 9th, we were
concerned because Mitchell was waking at night screaming in
pain so back to Toronto we went. We were informed on
December 10th (my 35th birthday) that they thought Mitchell
had a perforated bowel and he needed immediate surgery.
Later that night, he had his surgery, only to be unsuccessful
in that they could not locate the perforation without disrupting
the tumor. So here was my baby, with a twelve inch scar down
his belly, a chest tube to drain blood and a catheter, all for
nothing. I would be weeks before I could hold him and he
was somewhat comfortable.

The next few weeks were spent trying to get him weaned off
the chest tube, the morphine and the catheter. By New Years
Eve, Mitchell looked so small and frail and seemed to be
pleading to us with his eyes to let it all be over. We had a
CT scheduled for that day and it showed that the tumor
between his lungs had come back larger than before. The
doctors tolds us that he maybe had between 24 and 48 hours
left. Our initial reaction was to get him home but then we
thought that wouldn't be wise or fair to the other children who
would have to live in the house where he had died.

So, John and I sat by his beside and the nurses and doctors kept
him comfortable. I was finally able to hold him and I held him
in my arms until he passed away at 11:20 p.m. on New Years
Eve 2001. He is now our little angel in heaven. There isn't a
day that goes by that we don't think of him and miss him
terribly, especially with his twin sister running around the
house and talking up a storm. We can't help but wonder what
our lives would have been like if he were still with us.

Each day the hurt eases a bit but it will never go away. We miss
you so much "boy-o-boy" and can't wait to hold you in our
arms again. You touched so many people in your short time
with us. You will never be forgotten.

Love Mommy, Daddy, Katie, Kelsey, Madison
and the rest of your family.

In Memory of
FRASER, Mitchell John
February 3rd, 2000 – December 31st, 2001

In loving memory of our beloved son,

Mitchell John Fraser, who passed

Away at the age of 23 months,

on December 31, 2001 after an eight

month battle with Neuroblastoma

We Love and miss you Mitchell!!!

Me and my "Angel" buddies from the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto...We all had Neuroblastoma.
Please click on Shaylah's and Hunter's pictures to visit
Their websites!

All Done - Grandma and Grandpa Hutcheon's
Labor Day Weekend 2001

Madison & Mitchell
First Trip Home from HSC in Toronto May 2001

Laid Back Twins - July 2000

Mitchell on New Years Eve 2001,
3 1/2 hours before he received his Angel Wings

Kelsey, Laura, Madison, Katie, John & Mitchell
Last Family Photo July 2001