BY PAUL MITCHELLNorth Country This Week

RENSSELAER FALLS -- A GoFundMe account has been established to help a Rensselaer Falls family with expenses incurred by their child battling Neuroblastoma, a rare type of childhood cancer that develops from immature nerve cells (neuroblasts). 

In May, Elijah Coffey completed his treatment for Neuroblastoma, It typically occurs in infants and young children. In the first week of July, Elijah started to tell his parents his stomach hurt and his body was starting to ache, even when sleeping. Within two months of being out of treatment, his tumor grew to more than 3 inches wide and 3 inches long, and classified as rapid and aggressive growth. Elijah’s oncologist is wonderful and immediately worked on a plan to get them into the office and back into treatment to stop the growth of the tumor before it caused damage to any internal organs. While she worked as fast as she could, the tumor worked faster and it continued to grow, putting pressure on his back, liver and stomach, causing additional complications, which thankfully are on the mend now that the tumor is shrinking. 

That first stay in the hospital was for two weeks to start chemotherapy, get a handle on his pain, rebuild a nutrition plan, and to finalize treatment plans. For now, Elijah will be heading to Syracuse every 3-4 weeks for a week-long chemotherapy treatment to continue to shrink his tumor. These treatments won’t remove the tumor entirely, but will help his fight in the long run.

At this time, neither parents are working and putting 100 percent of their time and energy into their children. Food, gas, personal items, lodging, and other expenses have created a financial burden on the Coffey family.

People interested in helping can do so by making a donation to the GoFundMe page – https://www.gofundme.com/f/elijahs-cancer-is-back-join-his-fight?attribution_id=sl:0b9d1af5-6b88-4ed0-9a46-f10cc70b4c01&ts=1756746760&utm_campaign=pd_ss_icons&utm_content=amp13_t1&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link.