Never underestimate a mother's intuition. Julie Merlino trusted her instincts and it led to an early diagnosis of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma for her then three-year-old son Ricky.

Ricky had been limping for days. When the limp became more constant, Julie took him to the pediatrician and insisted that Ricky's leg be x-rayed for a possible stress fracture. That x-ray began a long series of medical treatments to save Ricky's life. "Sometimes I think it was harder on my husband Richard and me than it was for Ricky. He doesn't really remember a lot about this time," Julie says.

But Julie remembers. She remembers her anguish and heartbreak as her little boy celebrated his fourth birthday, not at Chuckie Cheese as planned, but with his first round of chemotherapy. "Those were very hard, difficult days. Every day seemed like a thousand hours. At times, we walked around as if we were in a fog," she recalls.

Doctors inserted a broviac catheter in Ricky's chest where blood was drawn for testing and chemotherapy drugs were delivered. "The whole time, he never had a needle stick. It was a godsend." Julie says Ricky didn't seem to notice when he lost his hair.  "Young children are so resilient. But I can tell you, there was never a day when I didn't wish I was being treated for cancer and not my little boy," she says.

Julie remembers clearly that during a particularly bad winter storm, Ricky developed an infection and fever. Dedicated snowmobilers were the only ones who were able to travel down the snow covered street to their house where they safely transported him to Roswell Park.

"Everytime Ricky received chemotherapy, he was a patient in the hospital. He spent a total of 80 days there. Roswell Park became our second home. The nurses and doctors treated us as family. Every concern was addressed with thoughtful caring and attention," says Julie. After eight months of chemotherapy, Ricky was tested again to determine if he was cancer-free. But the news was not good. The cancer had not been totally eradicated. So Ricky, by then four years old, received eight more chemotherapy treatments.

"We wanted to give Ricky the best chance at survival and even though it was hard to continue the treatments, we knew in the long-term it was the best for our little boy," Julie remarks. Today, Ricky is a typical six-year-old boy, attends first grade at Eggert Elementary in Orchard Park, and loves Pokemon, playing baseball and riding his bike.

Julie's message of hope for the holidays: "Know that no matter how difficult the days, you and your family can face the challenge. Trust in your doctors and accept support from family and friends. It may not seem like it but better days will come."