4-year-old cancer patient gets Disney sendoff on the Strip

Maya Cortes, a 4-year-old kidney cancer patient, learned she and her family are headed to Walt Disney World courtesy of Make-A-Wish of Southern Nevada at Maya’s very own “Cinderella” ball Wednesday at Aria on the Strip.

Aria staff treated Maya as a princess and her family as royalty. Her physician Dr. Waseem Alhushki played Prince Charming, although he’s not exactly a dashing stranger.

Dashing yes, stranger no. Alhushki is affectionately called Dr. Waseem by patients and staff at Children’s Specialty Center of Nevada, a Las Vegas practice dedicated to advancing the treatment and prevention of catastrophic diseases in children.

Maya and her family arrived at Aria by limousine and enjoyed appetizers made with her favorite foods: macaroni and cheese, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Throughout the evening, Maya remained where she has been since receiving her diagnosis on Valentine’s Day last year: close to her family, within reach of her mother, Denise, or in the arms of her father, Nathaniel.

Denise Cortes said she is proud of the way Maya has persevered and the way her other children, Daniel, 7, and Natalie, 16, have rallied to support their sister. During a summer vacation focused on Maya and her cancer, the other children never complained aside from an occasional grumble about being bored.

Maya was interviewed several months ago by Make-A-Wish volunteers and revealed she wanted to go to a Disney resort and bring Alhushki, 33, with whom she has developed a special bond during treatment.

The send-off for the family at Aria was arranged because Make-A-Wish policies prevent Alhushki from traveling with the family to Walt Disney World.

Maya was diagnosed last year with a Wilms’ tumor, a malignancy that can develop in one or both kidneys. In Maya’s case, both kidneys were involved, and her left kidney was removed as part of her treatment. Chemotherapy, surgery and irradiation have proved to be highly effective in treating the disease, and, as with any cancer, early detection increases the chances for a successful outcome.

Wilms’ tumor can spread to the lungs, liver, bone, brain or nearby lymph nodes, but symptoms start with abdominal pain, constipation, fever and a lump or swelling in the abdomen.

Working with young cancer patients is alternately exhilarating and agonizing, Alhushki admits, but the resiliency and toughness of his charges offers him a fringe benefit impossible to measure.

“It’s difficult because the kids come to you very sick, but in time, you see how much stronger they get, how much smarter they get,” said Alhushki, a member of the Make-A-Wish of Southern Nevada board of directors. “After treatment, they become more confident and feel as if they can face anything.”

Officials with Make-A-Wish expect the Cortes family to take away from Maya’s wish a memory they will cherish forever, an experience of hope and inspiration to offset the ordeal they have endured during her treatment, CEO Caroline Ciocca said. Make-A-Wish grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to infuse their treatment with hope, strength and joy.

Studies show a positive mental attitude has beneficial effects on health and patients’ recovery, and health professionals say the wish-come-true objective achieves that reaction in children. Children say wishes give them renewed strength to fight their illness, and the parents say the experiences help strengthen the entire family.

“It can be a turning point for them,” Ciocca said. “They get to think about something outside the hospital.”

After a child becomes a candidate for Make-A-Wish, volunteers interview the patient to learn his or her one true wish. The complexity of the wishes has evolved as children employ more resources to research what they want, Ciocca said.

“The wishes are becoming more extravagant because the kids are going on the Internet,” she said. “They’re looking all over the world.”

Just last year, Make-A-Wish of Southern Nevada sent three patients to Japan because of the kids’ fascination with anime, the video format featuring hand-drawn or computer animation. Children don’t just want to visit the sites where their favorite anime is produced, some want to meet the creators, Ciocca said.

Maya’s wish was fanciful and heartfelt, wanting to include the man who had helped give her more days to dream. Make-A-Wish officials toil diligently to fulfill the kids’ desires, but one strict policy limits participation to the patients’ immediate family members. That prevents Alhushki from going to Walt Disney World with the Corteses, but Aria officials came to the rescue by putting on the event to include him.

Gala Hoffman, one of the volunteers who help make the wishes come true, works for Aria and came up with idea of having the ball to send the Corteses off in style.

Ciocca said having a child request the participation of a doctor or other health care professional is unusual, and for Alhushki, it’s a first.

“It’s such an honor for a kid to ask for that,” he said.