Trent and Angela Fischer are overwhelmed by the support they’ve received since their son, Gavin, was treated for a tumor on one of his kidneys
By Per Peterson
By all accounts, there was nothing wrong with Gavin Fischer that would make his parents worry.
An on-and-off stomach ache notwithstanding, Gavin seemed like a normal first-grader. Who would’ve thought that a couple weeks later, doctors would find a tumor — and a large one at that — on one of the 7-year-old’s kidneys.
“He wasn’t sick going into this, so he was very confused,” said Gavin’s mother, Angela. “He kept saying, ‘I’m fine, I’m fine!’ There was nothing for us to tell him.”
“He, on occasion, would have a bellyache, but we thought it was maybe growing pains or hunger, or something — it never lasted for more than a couple minutes,” added Gavin’s father, Trent, a financial consultant with Thrivent Financial.
But there was something wrong, even though at the time, the Fischers literally had no clue about what it could be.
Earlier this month, Angie brought the kids to Valleyfair and took a picture of Gavin at the waterpark. Something about that picture struck her as odd.
“She took him to the school nurse,” Trent said. “I thought it was maybe an appendix or something very simple,” Angela said, finishing Trent’s thought. “I actually thought I was being an overprotective mom.”
But she wasn’t.
The nurse, Shannon Wolske, advised the Fischers to bring Gavin to the local clinic for an initial consultation.
“Doctor (Atul) Mishra got him in; we weren’t that worried,” Angela said. “Doctor Mishra did some tapping on his fingers and …”
“He said something’s there,” Trent said.
That Sept. 7 visit was just the beginning. Gavin then underwent an ultrasound, and the Fischers were told that very day that doctors had found a tumor on one of their son’s kidneys and they needed to get to the Sanford Children’s Hospital right away.
See this week’s Headlight-Herald for more on this article.