Â鶹ӳ»­

It all started with just a tiny lump on his wrist.

In the summer of 2014, Kobee Cohen, then 8 years old, noticed a tiny growth on the underside of his right wrist. His grandparents, Hadley and Melinda Cohen, weren¡¯t too concerned.

¡°What young, active boy doesn¡¯t have a bunch of bumps and bruises?¡± Hadley recalls.

But they started to get a little nervous in January 2015, when Kobee banged his arm on a basketball goal and the swelling didn¡¯t go down.

The Cohens took their grandson to a bone and joint doctor in Beaumont, Texas. He said the lump should be removed and immediately referred Kobee to MD Anderson.

¡°Whenever you hear that you have to go get checked out for cancer, it isn¡¯t a good thing,¡± Hadley says. ¡°But hearing the name MD Anderson was actually a relief because we know that they are the best for cancer care.¡±

Kobee¡¯s rhabdomyosarcoma diagnosis

Kobee was initially referred to During that initial appointment, Dr. Lin felt the lump on his wrist, asked questions, and ordered an X-ray and an MRI.

A biopsy the following week yielded Kobee¡¯s diagnosis: rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare form of cancer that develops from soft tissues that form muscles.

When Kobee asked how he got cancer, Dr. Lin explained, ¡°Your body is like a bunch of dominoes and one of them just happened to fall over in an unexpected way.¡±

Perseverance during rhabdomyosarcoma treatment

After the diagnosis, Dr. Lin consulted , at MD Anderson Children¡¯s Cancer Hospital.

¡°We love Dr. Huh,¡± Hadley says. ¡°He has kids, so he gets it. He really gets down on their level. Plus, he can talk iPads and video games and all the things kids like.¡±

After injecting Kobee¡¯s tumor with radiated sugar to make sure the rhabdomyosarcoma hadn¡¯t spread, harvesting a lymph node and acquiring a bone marrow sample, his care team came up with his treatment plan.

Kobee started with chemotherapy using vincristine, dactinomycin and cyclophosphamide. After shrinking the tumor, Kobee underwent a seven and a half hour surgery with Dr. Lin and , to remove the tumor.

After the surgery, Kobee received radiation therapy under the care of  He also received more chemotherapy.

While Kobee experienced a couple of scary fevers, his side effects were pretty minor most days -- a little bit of nausea and some soreness and softness in his arm and wrist bones.

An avid foodie, Kobee also was disappointed when Dr. Huh told him that he couldn¡¯t have sushi during treatment.

But Kobee didn¡¯t let his disappointment hold him back. ¡°He wanted to just get this done,¡± Hadley says. ¡±He really increased the amount how of fruits and veggies he ate during his treatment. He had two or three helpings of fruit every day -- and bowls and bowls of edamame.¡±

Support from many sources

Hadley says the outpouring of support that Kobee received from their community, church and classmates made a huge difference. All the boys in Kobee¡¯s class shaved their heads, and the church started a fundraising account to help with the family¡¯s expenses, such as fuel and food.

He believes that one of the things helped Kobee fight cancer was the fact that he cares for three pets: a guinea pig, a bearded dragon and a Labrador puppy.

¡°Caring for animals puts you in tune with life,¡± Hadley says. ¡°It also teaches responsibility and gave Kobee something else to focus on besides cancer.¡±

Kobee has finished his treatment, but still returns every three months for checkups. He¡¯s also excited that he can finally eat sushi again.

¡°When they told Kobee he could eat sushi again, he pigged out,¡± Hadley recalls.

As he tells others dealing with cancer, ¡°Cancer is a miserable thing to have go through, but the experience built character and gave Kobee confidence that if he can beat cancer, he can conquer anything in life.¡±

Encouraged to give back

Kobee is the latest cancer survivor featured in Jason's Deli's Strike Through Cancer campaign, which raises money to support cancer research at MD Anderson. A photo of Kobee with his grandparents appeared on specially marked water bottles from October through December 2015.

¡°We felt encouraged to participate and share our story,¡± Hadley says. ¡°Kobee wanted to let people know that you can get through whatever you face ¨C even if it¡¯s as scary as cancer.¡±