As a young boy, Colten would attack imaginary enemies, swinging his tiny fists and shouting, “Hulk smash!” His active imagination and fighting spirit served him well and earned him the nickname “Hulken” when he was treated for cancer by the experts at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital. In 2015, Colten was diagnosed with stage 4 high-risk neuroblastoma, a rare and aggressive form of nerve cancer.
“We realized that the best path forward would be to appeal to the ‘strong warrior’ that had always been such a big part of Colten’s personality,” says his mother, Michelle.
Over the next two years, Colten spent more than 240 nights in the hospital. He lived up to his warrior persona, walking the halls dressed as Yoda and challenging staff members to thumb wars and breakdancing battles.
“We’ll be forever grateful for everyone at the hospital who went to extraordinary lengths to help our son,” Michelle says.
Colten became the first UCSF patient to receive a combination treatment − immunotherapy with chemotherapy − approved by the FDA only months earlier. After two rounds of treatment, Colten was cancer-free. But he still had a long way to go: a stem cell transplant, radiation, and more immunotherapy, followed by eight months of isolation at home. Colten recently celebrated his 9th birthday and will soon mark 3 years cancer-free. The active third grader enjoys swimming and flag football.
“We are definitely making up for lost time,” Michelle says.
