The call went out over the PA system Sept. 12 – a Code Sunshine at the Georgia Cancer Center’s Radiation Therapy Center.
Staff, family and friends gathered in the lobby, ready for the main event.
Within a few minutes, Andrea Battle emerged through the double doors pulling her two-year-old son, Ace, behind her in a wagon. He’d just finished his last radiation treatment for neuroblastoma, and it was time for Ace to ring the bell and place his thumbprint on the new tree wall mural.
“To get to this point. It’s a blessing,” said Battle.
Another special aspect of Ace’s treatment was he was the first pediatric patient to complete his radiation through the Georgia Cancer Center’s pediatric anesthesia project in Augusta. Previously pediatric patients had to travel to Atlanta.
“This project is the result of an ongoing and extensive cross-departmental collaboration starting two years ago…This initiative empowers our local care teams to provide radiation therapy treatment with the support of the Wellstar Children’s Hospital of Georgia Pediatric Anesthesia team,” according to a news release.
Radiation can be tricky when it comes to young patients.
“For radiation treatments in general, it’s very important for our patients to be able to remain still throughout the process and to replicate the same treatment position every day. So, as you can imagine for a patient like Ace who is 2, it’s difficult to lay still and not fidget,” said Amber Moore, nurse manager.
Also, the hospital didn’t have the space for the procedure. A recent expansion of the Radiation Therapy Center solved that.
Ace required 12 rounds of radiation.
Ace’s journey to ringing the bell Friday began in November 2024.
He had fevers off and on for a few days and pain that his mom attributed to teething. Doctors first thought it could be an ear infection, but a few days into antibiotics didn’t impact his original symptoms and others appeared. His appetite was down, and he started to get dark patches under his eyes. He wasn’t urinating or having bowel movements as he should. Those were a few of the symptoms. Andrea Battle took him to the ER.
An x-ray revealed a mass in his abdomen and the diagnosis came back Stage IV, high-risk neuroblastoma. Neuroblastoma is a rare form of cancer that originates on the adrenal glands.
Battle said treatment began immediately – four rounds of chemotherapy, immunotherapy, two bone marrow transplants using his own stem cells then radiation. The chemo shrunk the tumor.
Battle said there have been rough patches, but she’s grateful to the doctors, her family and to God.
And she’s thankful that she didn’t have to travel to Atlanta for radiation.
“Having this facility here is huge. It opens the opportunity for other families with young children. They don’t have to travel. It’s especially hard when you have other children at home,” said Battle who also has a 13 year old daughter.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for more than 35 years. She’s won multiple Georgia Press Association awards and is the recipient of the 2018 Greater Augusta Arts Council’s media award. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
