A mother has revealed the heartbreaking last conversation she had with her dying four-year-old son.
Ruth Scully of Leonardtown, Maryland, lost her four-year-old son, Nolan, in February 2017 to rhabdomyosarcoma.
The cancer, which affects soft skeletal tissue, is very aggressive and can spread quickly, becoming resistant to all forms of treatment.
Nolan had just 15 months to fight the disease, from November 2015 to February 2017, before it took his life.
In one of their last conversations together, she told her son that ‘he didn’t have to fight anymore’, who said he would go to Heaven and ‘play until he got there.’
Ruth Scully lost her son Nolan, both seen here, in February 2017 to a rare form of cancer.
The cancer, which affects the soft tissue of the skeleton, is very aggressive and can spread quickly, becoming resistant to all forms of treatment.
In November 2015, doctors diagnosed Nolan with alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare soft tissue cancer.
Scully remembers telling her son “it hurts to breathe, doesn’t it?”, who responded “weeeeeeeeee…yeah.”
‘You’re in a lot of pain, aren’t you, baby?’ he said, before adding ‘poot, this cancer thing sucks.’ You don’t have to fight anymore.’
His son replied: ‘I don’t. But I’ll do it for you, Mommy,” prompting Scully to ask, “Is that what you’ve been doing?” ‘Fighting for Mommy??’
Despite the circumstances, Nolan bravely told his mom, ‘well, DUH!’ before Ruth asks him: ‘What’s Mum’s job?’, to which he replied with a big smile, ‘keeping me safe’.
Ruth said her heart was broken when he said: ‘Honey. I can’t do that here anymore. The only way I can keep you safe is in Heaven.
Heartbreakingly, Nolan told him: ‘I’ll go to heaven and play until you get there!’ You’re coming, right?’, to which she replied: ‘Of course.’
In September 2015, Nolan had a stuffy nose, which his parents simply assumed was a common cold.
But soon his breathing became difficult. Doctors tried antibiotics, a humidifier, steam, and saline spray, but nothing worked. They decided to take biopsies of her adenoid tissue, which is located behind the nasal cavity.
Finally, in November 2015, doctors diagnosed Nolan with alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare soft tissue cancer: a tumor had been compressing his airways causing his “nasal congestion.”
Images shared on social media show a bright and happy boy, posing for photographs with hospital staff and his family with a beaming smile.
In September 2015, Nolan had a stuffy nose, which his parents simply assumed was a common cold.
In one of their last conversations together, she told her son that ‘he didn’t have to fight anymore’ who said he would go to Heaven and ‘play until he got there’
An oncologist told the family that the four-year-old’s cancer had spread and that large tumors were compressing his bronchial tubes and heart just four weeks after open-chest surgery.
Cancer grows in muscles, fat, bones, or the lining of joints. Patients often experience drooping eyelids, headaches and nausea, difficulty urinating and defecating.
Rounds of chemotherapy and radiation soon followed. Nolan lost his hair and gradually became weaker.
The disease is an aggressive and highly malignant form of cancer and, in Nolan, it began to spread throughout his body.
Once it spreads, the survival rate drops to between 20 and 40 percent.
Ruth wrote about how she had wanted to describe Nolan’s final days for a while and how her son “was made of nothing but pure love.”
On a Facebook page she and her husband Jonathan created called Nolan Strong, Ruth describes her feelings as “an agony like no other,” in a moving tribute.
When Ruth took Nolan to the hospital for the last time, he had been battling cancer for over a year, hadn’t eaten or drank anything in days, and was vomiting continuously.
On February 1, the oncologist told the family that the four-year-old’s cancer had spread and that large tumors were compressing his bronchial tubes and heart just four weeks after open-chest surgery.
The cancer had become resistant to all treatment options and the only thing doctors could do now was keep Nolan comfortable as he was rapidly deteriorating.
‘When I took Nolan to the hospital for the last time, I knew there was something else wrong besides a persistent case of C-DIFF. I just knew it, and strangely enough, I think he did too. “He hadn’t eaten or drank anything in days and was vomiting continuously,” he wrote.
‘On February 1 we sat down with his ENTIRE team. When the oncologist spoke about him, I saw the pure pain in his eyes.
Images shared on social media show a bright and happy little boy posing for photographs with hospital staff, seen here with Dr Kate and her family with a beaming smile.
Ruth shared a photo of Nolan lying on the bathroom floor, showing how her son was too terrified to leave her side even when she was showering.
On February 4, 2017, Nolan passed away and the post describing their fight was shared more than 928,000 times.
“She explained at the time that she did not believe his cancer (sic) was treatable as it had become resistant to all the treatment options we had tried and that the plan would be to keep him comfortable as he was deteriorating rapidly.”
Ruth explained that her son slept for most of the next few days and the distress she felt as she signed a “Do Not Resuscitate” order from emergency services.
On February 4, 2017, Nolan passed away and the post describing their fight was shared more than 928,000 times.
Ruth added that her son loves his family and friends with fierce devotion and that “he was a warrior who died with dignity and love.”
Alongside the letter is a photo of Nolan lying on the bathroom floor, showing how her son was too terrified to leave her side even when she was showering.
“Now I’m the one who’s afraid to take a shower,” she wrote. “With nothing but an empty shower mat where once a beautiful, perfect boy lay waiting for his mother.”
