Fundraisers to help boy with rare cancer

Emmett Snyders is never short on smiles. Even after chemotherapy and chest surgery, even with his immune system low from all the treatment, the 1-year-old flashes a beatific grin every day, said his father, Brian.

Emmett Snyders is never short on smiles.

Even after chemotherapy and chest surgery, even with his immune system low from all the treatment, the 1-year-old flashes a beatific grin every day, said his father, Brian.

His family is trying to do the same.

"Occasionally, you think of the potential that he may die from this, and you get tearful," said Brian, owner and doctor at Prairie Family Medicine in Coeur d'Alene. "But we try not to think of that and just stay positive."

Pressure has been great on the Snyders family for the past two months, Brian said, since Emmett was diagnosed this April with neuroblastoma, a rare cancer that affects only several hundred in the U.S. each year.

But community members are reaching out with support. Lutheran Academy of the Master will host a spaghetti dinner benefit from 5 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, June 3 at the church, located at 4800 N. Ramsey Road in Coeur d'Alene.

The staff at Prairie Family Medicine will also hold a fundraiser with dinner, silent auction and live music at 6 p.m. on Saturday, July 10 at the Eagles Lodge on Sherman Avenue in Coeur d'Alene.

"A lot of people think that because Dr. Snyders is a physician, he somehow should not have to pay very much, or this medical expense would be a non-issue," said Catherine Thomas, radiological technologist at Prairie Family Medicine. "It couldn't be more the opposite. These bills are astronomical. They have as many issues as anybody on the street who would go through this."

Brian and his wife, Maren, initially thought their infant's symptoms were from minor issues - for instance, that Emmett's eyes were bruised because the baby kept rubbing them persistently.

But after discovering lumps on the infant's head, the couple saw a pediatrician and then a doctor at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane. An MRI, CT and bone scan revealed a tumor and neuroblastoma in the baby's blood marrow.

Emmett was diagnosed with stage four cancer, Brian added.

"(We were) totally devastated," Brian said. "When a baby is born and he has all his fingers and toes, he looks good and you think everything is going to be fine. Then at 10 months to have him diagnosed with stage four cancer ... It's just totally changed our lives."

Since Emmett was diagnosed he has undergone many tests and biopsies, Brian said, as well as chest surgery, and has been hospitalized several times for fevers his immune system can't handle. The infant will have to go through six months of chemotherapy to shrink a tumor around his spine, which is currently inoperable.

"Hopefully it will go away permanently, but he is going to need frequent follow-up and he may have a recurrence of a different type of cancer later in his life," Brian said.

Emmett requires constant care at home, Brian said, and Maren quit her job as office administrator at Prairie Family Medicine to watch over the baby full-time.

The couple's other children, ages 9, 12 and 18, also chip in, Brian said, and Maren's mother moved to the area to help.

For now, bills are high even with insurance, Brian said, and there are so many procedures and tests to go.

"We don't know what this is going to cost," he said.

Still, Brian has high hopes for Emmett's future, he said, including becoming a doctor.

"That was our goal when we (Maren and I) built this facility," he said of Prairie Family Medicine. "My wife and I thought, 'We'll pass this on.'"

Tickets are $5 for the June 3 benefit at Lutheran Academy of the Master. Folks can purchase tickets at the event, or in advance at the church or at Prairie Family Medicine at 1130 West Prairie Ave.

Tickets for the July 10 event at the Eagles Lodge are already going fast, Thomas said. Tickets cost $30 for a single, $50 for a couple, and can be purchased at Prairie Family Medicine or at Yacht Club Sales and Services at 1000 S. Marina Drive in Coeur d'Alene.

"It's going to be a night of fun, a night of music and dancing and dinner," Thomas said. "I think people are going to have a good time because we all know we're helping."

She added that anyone with services or items to sell at the silent auction can contact her at: 651-3523. Any items, new or old, are welcome.

All proceeds will go toward Emmett's medical bills. Brian said any leftover funds will be donated to other children with his condition.

"I just can't believe the support and love that comes out when somebody is in need," Brian said. "Typically you think, 'Well, everybody is oblivious,' but when word gets out that somebody really needs help, it's amazing how this community comes together."