MACARES

A special message from Breakthrough Interactive Group, Inc. Founder and CEO, Tony Cort:

For me and my family this became abundantly clear March 2003, when five days after the birth of our daughter, an unusual lump was found by a day care provider on the side of our three year old son. Curious, but not overly concerned, we took him to his pediatrician where she said, "I am not sure what this is but I don’t like it”, “I will send you to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and see what they say".

Well, this was the start of an odyssey that has changed our family’s life forever. Doctors and nurses coming and going, tests being taken and anxiously awaiting results – the doctor came in to the room and said “Mr. Cort can I speak with you for a moment”. The walk out of the room and down the short hall seemed to take forever. He said to me “Mr. Cort, your son has Cancer”. That word pierced my soul like a hot dagger. I thought of my little son so happy, I thought of his future, his dreams, our life, telling my wife who just gave birth five days before.

With my Pastor and best friend at my side, I gained the strength to decide how I would break the news to my wife. With emotions at a fever level, but knowing that I had to be strong for my son and the family, I found a peace that was beyond my understanding.

Well, the next two and a half weeks were the hardest, but also the most important for my family. We learned more about this Cancer as well as so many other forms. We experienced a love and support from family and friends that was very so encouraging. We learned more about ourselves and the resolve that God has placed within all of us. The Doctors were still not sure what type of Cancer they were dealing with. They were sure that it was growing and they ruled out a form of Cancer called Wilms Tumor.

With a lung biopsy performed, the result was ten cancerous spots of legions on his lungs. Not good! The doctors were still coming up with inconclusive results as to the type of Cancer. Now they wanted to go into his abdomen to take a piece of tissue from the ever-growing tumor in hope that the results would point them in the right direction for treatment. The results came in and…it is still inconclusive. We are now asking more questions and receiving fewer answers. He’s losing weight, but not his spirit. He just wants to go home. It was amazing to us how well he was handling this experience, so amazing in fact, that with every day that turned to night our strength increased and our faith heightened, thanks to our Son.

We continued to reach out to other doctors at other hospitals, from Sloan Kettering in New York, to Boston Children’s, to North Western University Hospital, in search of an answer. We had the tissue samples sent everywhere. Inconclusive was not the answer we needed.

Doctors at other hospitals baffled with the markers that the tissue samples showed, planned to begin with Chemotherapy. We were still waiting for results from a leading doctor in the field to get some clarity on what we were dealing with. The doctors started him out on Chemo therapy treatment to try to slow the spread of this Cancer. Thank God it worked! Our son was taking well to the procedure and we were scheduled to go home in a couple of days.

The day we went home was a great day, but still no answer. When we did get the results, which came the next day, the diagnosis that was ruled out from the beginning, was exactly what it was…WILMS TUMOR, a treatable form of pediatric cancer. Praise be to God, our son is now on the road to recovery and we continue to Pray for all of the other families that are facing such life defining experiences.

Through this entire process, I thank the martial arts community for your prayers, support and continued words of encouragement. Thank you Michael Crum, Cynthia Rothrock, Alan Goldberg, Dennis Brown, Don Rodrigues, and to so many of our loyal friends in the martial arts industry. My family and I have experienced a true love for humanity and caring for life that is a testimony of your true strength.

It is through this experience that we have created MACares™. Our humble attempt to provide support to the families in need and to the ongoing research efforts to fight childhood cancer. As icons and hero’s to many children throughout the world, the martial arts community will work together to help raise awareness of these issues and strive to bridge the gap in providing resources, encouragement and appearances to Children’s Hospitals nationwide.

Since leaving the hospital we have dealt with monitoring our son’s health in a new way, providing him with medications, surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. The road is long but we are excited about the future and are grateful for each moment of each day. Thank you to my wife, our children, and our family and friends for your continued Prayers, Love, Support and Encouragement. MACares is our attempt to share in this love and support, and to help in the healing process of one child, one family at a time.