Mom noticed her toddler was acting strange. Days Later, She… – PEOPLE 8225670622173 When Virginia mom Nicole Dodge noticed that her daughter, now 2, was moving her arm in an unusual way, she never imagined she would hear the diagnosis a few days later. Natalie, the youngest of the five children, only used the lower half of her arm. She told PEOPLE, “I thought I had gone crazy.” Dodge, initially thinking it was a shoulder injury in Natalie, who at the time was 15 months, sent a video to her husband Andrew who is a chiropractor and to her sister’s husband and wife who are both physical therapy. “We all came up with the conclusion that it might be a partial dislocation, and it would probably work itself out if it was given a weekend,” she recalls. “It was Friday afternoon and it was 2022. Hospitals still had COVID protocols that were stricter. At that point, my only option was to go to ER. She wasn’t even wailing so that seemed extreme.” Dodge said that Natalie had not changed by Sunday. She was going to wait until Monday before taking her daughter to the orthopedist. Dodge remembers thinking, “Clearly something is wrong,” Dodge recalls. “I took my other four children to my mother in law’s house, and took Natalie straight into the pediatric ER.” Never lose a story – sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletter and stay on top of the latest PEOPLE news, from juicy celebrity stories to compelling human-interest stories. After spending hours in the ER, the doctors decided to keep Natalie overnight so that they could take an MRI the next morning. They told me they didn’t like how the bone looked in the x-ray, that it looked really fragile and that this could have been caused anything from nutrient deficiency like minerals and vitamin to cancer. “They said cancer, but they said it in such a casual way that I didn’t think that was the reason. I thought that it was more that they were just telling me all the possibilities,” she recalls. Dodge and her daughter were admitted to the hospital that night. They had to remain in isolation because Natalie tested positive for COVID, even though she was asymptomatic. They were informed later that night that their MRI had been cancelled as doctors would instead be performing a differential diagnosis. “We have an extremely long list of possible things that could be wrong for your daughter. We have to go down the list one-by-one and sort of move things away.” The doctors explained to Dodge that the top two items on the list were both cancers. “I was like ‘What? ‘” “I felt like the rug had been ripped from under me.” They explained to me that a urine test and a blood sample that they would do first thing in morning could confirm or rule out either of those items. The urine test confirmed Natalie’s increased levels of Catecholamines, and it was decided that an MRI would be prudent to do that afternoon. Ashley Parker Photography “We had a CT scan and a biopsy.” Within the first 24 hour period of being in the hospital, we had a general understanding that it was probably cancer. We knew about four days into the hospital that it was a neuroblastoma but we did not know how bad it would be at that time. Dodge and her husband Andrew waited with Natalie at home for the results of the biopsy while it was being sent to a laboratory. The couple’s situation was made even more stressful by the fact that they had just closed on their new home two weeks prior to Natalie’s diagnosis. “When we returned home from the hospital, it took us about 24 hours to get back to our old home. Within 48 hours after we returned home, our family and friends knew we had been diagnosed with cancer. They lined up pickup trucks in our driveway and began to collect the boxes and other items we hadn’t packed yet. “They moved us into our home,” she tells PEOPLE as she begins to cry. The Dodges received the results of Natalie’s biopsy four days later. It was high-risk or stage 4 neuroblastoma. It’s MYCN-amplified, meaning that her cancer type grows at 10 times faster than regular neuroblastoma.” “It was the worst possible prognosis we could have received,” says Dodge. “I lost it. We both went to our bedrooms and cried. It was horrible. “We felt there was no hope at all.” Dodge says that the oncologist told them that Natalie’s best chance for survival was 50%, even if they were to try and get into a trial. “We could either go through the two years of treatments and she would live, or we could do two years of treatments and she would die.” L: Caption . PHOTO: Nicole Dodge R: Caption . PHOTO: Nicole Dodge Dodge says, “We felt that the best thing we could do for her is to give her a quality of life during whatever remaining days or month we had with her.” “We thought we would be doing palliative medicine. We thought we would do low-dose chemotherapy to keep her as comfortable and safe as possible. We wanted to take to Disney World to see the beach and Disney World because she had never been. We were ready to spend as many happy days as possible with her.” Dodge says that the car ride from their next oncology visit was “the worst hour of my life.” How are we going have this conversation with the doctor about how we can help our child to die in a respectable way? She recalls her thoughts. “We were silent for the entire car trip.” It was horrible.” When the Dodges arrived at Natalie’s appointment everything changed. “Our doctor came in and told us that I had some great news. She said, “I just got off the telephone with St. Jude. I want you to know that in the five years I’ve worked at this hospital, I have probably tried to get about a dozen patients to come with them. I’ve been rejected every single time, but within 90 seconds on the phone they verbally accepted me and they want me there on Monday. “And this was on a Friday.” Nicole Dodge Dodge tells PEOPLE that “our whole world changed in a blink of an eye once again.” “I was like ‘Well, what is at St. Jude which is not elsewhere?’ She said, “They are running research at St. Jude. Their survival rate is more than 80 percent.” I looked at my wife and said, “We have to leave.” ” In less than a week, Dodge and her child traveled more than 700 miles to Memphis in Tennessee, where they spent over 10 months receiving treatment at St. Jude’s. The doctors determined that Natalie’s cancer metastasized when they arrived at the hospital. This means it had spread to other parts of the body. The primary tumor was located in her left glandular and it spread through her lymph nodes. There was no part of her body that remained untouched. “The secondary tumour was in her left hand. It was the largest second tumor site in her body. She stopped moving her left arm because the tumor had taken over so many bones that it was painful to move. “But she also had tumors on her pelvis, her legs, her wrists, both arms, her skull and her spine. It was all over her, her bone marrow. L: Caption . PHOTO: Nicole Dodge R: Caption . PHOTO: Nicole Dodge “I look back, and I wonder how we didn’t know?” ” Dodge describes the pain her daughter was experiencing. “The cancer is growing very quickly. When we were diagnosed in the first hospital, her blood work looked normal. She seemed to be a healthy person. When we arrived at St. Jude two weeks later, her blood work was neutropenic. This means that her immune system had been so badly attacked by cancer cells, that it was not even functioning. Natalie’s mom told PEOPLE that during Natalie’s stay at St. Jude: “Everything you know about cancer treatments, Natalie received some of it.” “She received five rounds very high-dose chemotherapy combined with immunotherapy. She had a resection to remove the tumour,” she says. “She had two bone-marrow transplants using her own stem cells. She then had 13 rounds radiation.” Dodge said that Natalie was in the final third of her treatment as of early March: immunotherapy. “Natalie is on daily injections and oral medication, and we visit St. Jude every month for an inpatient treatment where they administer immunotherapy.” After the toddler’s five rounds of chemotherapy, Dodge said that her little girl had been declared “having no signs of disease” and “continued with clear scans.” “It is truly, truly amazing,” she says. “I’ve seen other protocols at hospitals around the globe, but I haven’t seen as many kids with NED status as early in treatment at St. Jude as I’ve seen elsewhere. Jude.” Dodge thanks her family, community and friends for their support and for keeping Natalie in mind during this difficult journey. She says that sharing Natalie’s story on social networks has been “therapeutic” and reminds her of how far they have come. Dodge says that making these videos was therapeutic for her, especially when she was sick and we were trapped in this small room. “They were some of the darkest times of my life.” It helped me to remember how far we’d come and to be grateful that I was stuck with this little girl, who was still alive.

When Virginia mom Nicole Dodge first noticed her now 2-year-old daughter was moving her arm strangely, she never expected days later to hear the diagnosis she did.

In early 2022, the mom of five was sitting in her kitchen when she noticed her youngest daughter, Natalie, was only using the bottom half of her arm. “I thought I was crazy,” she tells PEOPLE.

Initially thinking it could be a shoulder injury, Dodge sent a video of Natalie, who was 15 months old at the time, to her husband Andrew, a chiropractor, and to her sister and her husband who are both physical therapists.

“We all came to this conclusion that maybe it was a partial dislocation and maybe it would work itself out if we gave it through the weekend,” she recalls. “It was a Friday afternoon, it was the beginning of 2022, so there were still heightened COVID protocols in hospitals. My only option at that point was to go to the ER. She wasn’t even crying so that seemed really extreme.”

By Sunday, Dodge says there was still no change in Natalie. She planned to wait until Monday to take her daughter to an orthopedist, until Natalie became “completely inconsolable” and was “screaming” after accidentally taking a fall.

“Clearly something is very wrong,” Dodge recalls thinking. “I took my four other children to my mother-in-law’s house and took Natalie straight to the pediatric ER.”

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After spending hours at the ER, doctors decided they wanted to keep Natalie overnight to take an MRI in the morning. “They told me that they didn’t like the way the bone looked [in the x-ray], that it looked really brittle and that could have been caused by anything from nutrient deficiencies like minerals and vitamins to cancer.”

“They said the word cancer, but it was said just in such a passing way that I didn’t think that [could be the reason], I thought it was more like they’re just telling me every possibility,” she recalls.

Dodge and her daughter were admitted that night, where they had to stay in isolation as Natalie ended up testing positive for COVID (though she was asymptomatic). Later that night, they were told that their MRI was canceled as doctors would be doing a differential diagnosis instead.

“We have a really long list of potential things that could be wrong with your daughter, and we have to go through the list one by one and kind of move things out. And I need you to understand that the top two things on this list are both cancers,” the doctors told Dodge. “I was like, ‘What?’ I felt like the rug was ripped out from underneath me.”

“They explained to me that they could basically confirm or rule out both of those items with a urine sample and a blood test that they were going to do first thing in the morning. The urine test confirmed Natalie had increased levels of Catecholamines and decided it was prudent to do an MRI that afternoon.”

“Eventually we had a biopsy and a CT scan. We had a general idea within the first 24 hours that we were in the hospital that it was likely cancer. We had a pretty good idea about four days in that it was neuroblastoma, but we didn’t know how bad it was at that point.”

While the biopsy was sent out to a lab, Dodge and husband Andrew waited at home with Natalie for her results. Making things even more stressful, the couple had closed on a new home just two weeks before Natalie’s diagnosis.

“When we got home from the hospital, we were at our previous home for about 24 hours. Close friends and family knew that we had a cancer diagnosis and within 48 hours of us being home, there were pickup trucks lined up in our driveway to pick up the boxes and things we hadn’t even packed yet. And they moved us into our new home,” she tells PEOPLE, beginning to get emotional.

Four days later, the Dodges got the call that Natalie’s results were in. “It was high risk or stage 4 neuroblastoma. It’s MYCN amplified, which means that her type of cancer grows at 10 times the rate of regular neuroblastoma.”

“It was essentially the worst prognosis that we could have gotten,” says Dodge. “I absolutely lost it. My husband and I just went to our bedroom and sobbed. It was awful. We felt like there was absolutely no hope at that point.”

Dodge says the oncologist told her and Andrew that even if they tried to get into a clinical trial, Natalie’s best chance of survival was 50 percent. “We could go through two years of treatment and she could live, or we could go through two years of treatment and she could die.”

“We felt like the best thing that we could do for her was to give her quality of life in whatever remaining days or months we had with her,” says Dodge. “We actually thought we were going to do palliative care. We were going to maybe do some low-dose chemos and help keep her as comfortable as possible. We wanted to take her to Disney World and to see the beach because she’d never been, she’d never seen the ocean before. We were just prepared to live out as many good days with her as we could have.”

Dodge says the car ride to their next oncology appointment was the “worst hour of my life.”

“How are we going to have this conversation with our doctor about how to help our child die in a respectful way?” she recalls thinking. “We were silent the entire car ride. It was awful.”

But when the Dodges arrived for Natalie’s appointment, everything changed.

“Our doctor walked right in and said I have some really great news. She said, ‘I just got off the phone with St. Jude. I need you to understand that in the last five years that I’ve been here at this hospital, I’ve probably tried to get a dozen patients in with them. I’ve been turned down every single time but within 90 seconds they verbally accepted you on the phone and they want you there on Monday.’ And this was a Friday.”

“Our whole world just changed in the blink of an eye again,” Dodge tells PEOPLE. “I was like, ‘Well, what’s at St. Jude that’s not anywhere else?’ And she said, ‘They are running studies at St. Jude and their survival rate is over 80 percent.’ And I looked at my husband and I said, ‘We have to go.’ ”

Less than a week later, Dodge and her daughter traveled over 700 miles to Memphis, Tennessee, where they would spend more than 10 months receiving treatment at St. Jude’s.

When they arrived at the hospital, doctors were able to determine through an MIBG scan that Natalie’s cancer had metastasized, meaning it had spread from one part of the body to another. “The primary tumor was in her left adrenal gland, and it metastasized through her lymph nodes; there really wasn’t a part of her body that was untouched.”

“The secondary tumor was in her left arm. That was the biggest second site of a tumor in her body, which is what caused her to stop moving her arm because it had taken over so much of the bone that it was painful for her to move it,” she explains. “But she had tumors in her pelvis, she had tumors in her legs, in her wrists, in both arms, in her skull, in her spine. And it was throughout her, all of her bone marrow.”

“I look back and I’m like, ‘How did we not know?’ ” Dodge says of how much pain her daughter was in. “The type of cancer she has is very fast-growing. Her blood work when we were diagnosed at the original hospital looked almost normal, like a very healthy person. Two weeks later when we got to St. Jude, it was neutropenic, which means her immune system was so attacked by cancer cells that it wasn’t even functioning, and that was just in the period of two weeks.”

During Natalie’s time at St. Jude, her mom tells PEOPLE, “Anything you know about cancer treatment, Natalie got some of it at some point.”

“She received five rounds of very high-dose chemotherapy and immunotherapy together. She also had a resection surgery to remove the tumor,” she says. “She had two bone marrow transplants with her own stem cells. Then she had 13 rounds of radiation.”

As of early March, Dodge says Natalie was in her final third of treatment: immunotherapy. “Natalie takes an oral medication and daily injections, and then we go down to St. Jude once a month for an inpatient stay where they administer an immunotherapy.”

And after the toddler’s first five rounds of chemotherapy and immunotherapy, Dodge says her little girl was declared as “having no evidence of disease” and has “continued to have clear scans.”

“It’s truly, truly remarkable,” she says. “I have seen other protocols at other hospitals around the world, and there are not as many kids having that NED status so early in treatment elsewhere, as I’ve seen at St. Jude.”

Dodge praises her family, friends and community for helping to navigate this difficult journey and keeping Natalie in their thoughts. She also explains that sharing Natalie’s story on social media has been “therapeutic” for her and helps to remind her how far they’ve come.

“Making these videos felt kind of therapeutic for me, especially on days when she felt so sick and we were stuck in this tiny room and we couldn’t go anywhere,” says Dodge. “They were just some of the darkest days of my entire life. And it helped me to remind myself how far we had come and to be thankful that I was stuck in this room with this little girl who was alive.”