Arthur’s journey began with fear. Within hours of his birth in April 2025, his parents were told something was terribly wrong. A fast-growing mass on his neck made it difficult for him to breathe. He was quickly intubated, and his family braced for the unthinkable: he might not make it through the night.
Every second mattered. His doctors needed answers immediately, not weeks later. This is where Rapid On-Site Evaluation (ROSE) changed everything.
Instead of waiting for tissue samples to be sent away, ROSE allowed a cytopathologist to examine Arthur’s cells under the microscope right at the bedside. Within three days after being born, Arthur’s family had a diagnosis: neuroblastoma, stage 4S.
It was devastating news — but it was also clarity. Because of ROSE, his team could begin treatment without delay. Chemotherapy was started right away, giving Arthur the best possible chance.
The road that followed was unimaginably hard. Arthur endured weeks in the PICU, intubation, infections, line placements, sedation, and withdrawal. His parents lived at his bedside, learning to manage NG tubes, oxygen, and feeding schedules, clinging to every flicker of hope.
And then, slowly, the tide turned. The mass shrank. His liver, once enlarged with disease, healed. His voice returned after weeks of intubation. By his fourth round of chemo, doctors told his parents what they never thought they’d hear in those first dark days: his tumor was 99% gone.
Today, Arthur weighs nearly 14 pounds and is steadily climbing the growth chart. He nurses, bottle-feeds, smiles, and even charms his four-year-old big sister, who proudly calls herself his “doctor.” His oncologists now speak of remission, and his family finally dares to dream about the future.
Without ROSE, Arthur’s diagnosis might have taken weeks. With a mass so large and his airway already at risk, those weeks could have cost him his chance. Instead, ROSE gave his doctors answers within days. They were able to run special tests right away, confirm what they were facing, and start treatment immediately. That speed didn’t just make a difference—it gave Arthur a fighting chance.
When I was 19 years old, I developed a lump in my neck. A specialist used a long needle to do a Fine-Needle Aspiration (FNA) to take a small tissue sample from my thyroid to determine if the tumor was malignant. I’ll never forget my fear and anxiety waiting for my fine needle aspiration results to learn if I had cancer.
Several days later, my doctor said the sample was inadequate –he would have to do the FNA again! Since then, I’ve learned that more than 20% of patients undergoing FNA biopsies need to have the procedure repeated. It took a month to reschedule the procedure. Living with uncertainty about whether a cancerous tumor was growing in my body was really rough for me and my loved ones. Eventually I heard, “Meagan, you have cancer.”
No one was happy with the diagnosis or the process. Now I know that had my doctor used the ROSE alongside the FNA, I could have started my treatment sooner.