Kid Captain Beau Byers thriving after rare cancer diagnosis

Beau Byers' first stomachache came and went. When the pain returned a couple of weeks later, it was so intense that his parents took him to a doctor.

Beau had recently turned 3 and started at a new daycare.

"He was my healthiest baby," says his mother, Laura, who has three children with her husband, Nate. "He was born right on time, a big, normal baby."

The doctor thought Beau was constipated and that a high-fiber diet and medication would help. But the pain only worsened, eventually becoming so severe that Beau would run in circles, screaming.

His parents sought help from other local health care providers, concerned that he might have appendicitis, but no one could offer a diagnosis.

"As a parent, you want to protect your child, and I didn't know what to do," Laura says, recalling that she broke down and cried when it seemed no one could help. "It was four or five weeks until we had any real answers."

Beau was admitted that night to Stead Family Children's Hospital.

"We spent a lot of time with Dr. Lockwood, who assured us that this was a type of cancer that kids heal from and did her best to look another mom in the eye and tell me that my baby would be OK," Laura says.

The next morning, Beau had surgery to remove the tumor. He also had a CT scan to determine how far the cancer had spread.

The surgery removed most of the mass, but removing the origin of the tumor - at the base of his bladder - would have caused problems with urinary function.

"Dr. Lockwood was patient and so open and generous with her time. She answered every question we had, and I am so thankful she was our first line of defense in this fight," Laura says. "The good news was that the cancer had only spread to the two lymph nodes outside of his bladder. This is when I broke down and cried. I knew enough about metastasis and how this could have been much, much worse."

After surgery, Beau had a port placed and started his first round of a planned 42 weeks of chemotherapy, followed by six months of maintenance therapy. Depending on the week, his schedule included an overnight hospital stay, a treatment day lasting more than five hours, or treatment five days in a row.

"We had become close with the nursing staff, front desk staff, as well as the people checking us in at the entrance of the hospital," Laura says. "Stead became our home for a long time, and although we didn't like why we were there, we sure loved the staff and the care Beau was given."

Beau's tumor responded well to treatment, with no new growth detected after the first nine weeks of chemotherapy. Helping him feel comfortable during treatment presented a different challenge.

"Beau was a tough nut to crack," Laura recalls. "He was 3, kind of stubborn, and too smart to be tricked by any game or pretend play to get him to comply with almost anything. The Child Life team was a huge part in getting him to relax, open up, play, and try to make the most out of a really scary situation."

Beau's older brother, Lane, was instrumental in Beau's recovery, even shaving his head in solidarity.

Beau's cancer is now considered in remission. He has resumed his active life and regularly returns to the hospital for checkups.

"You wouldn't look at him and think this kid had cancer," Laura says. "He is thriving."

Each football season, we welcome 12 unforgettable patients into our Kid Captain Hall of Fame. Explore our four most recent stories.