Just weeks since his cancer treatments wrapped up, Isaac Ciarlo was back to being a regular six-year-old Monday night.

In fact, as he sat at a table with a group of friends at the Funhaven Family Fun Centre, his bald head was the only visible evidence of what he has gone through since March.

Celebrating the official end of Isaac’s treatment with more than 100 friends at a party thrown for free by Funhaven, his mom, Trisha, tried unsuccessfully to hold back tears as she spoke of the family’s ordeal.

But Isaac wasn’t paying attention, there were way too many friends to yuk it up with and games to play to worry about whatever mom was going on about.

Those listening heard Trisha not only express profound relief that Isaac has come through his fight with flying colours but also sincere thanks to the family’s supporters.

“So many oncology families express sadness at the lack of support they feel,” she said. “They say they feel isolated and alone and unable to share what they’re going through.

“We’ve never felt that. We’ve never felt more loved, supported and willing to be heard.”

Isaac’s attention was finally grabbed when a huge trophy was brought out and presented to him.

“It came, we fought, Isaac won,” read the inscription.

It’s nearly impossible, said Trisha, to thank everyone who played a role in helping Isaac recover from a Wilm’s tumour, a rare form of kidney cancer that had spread to his lungs and involved his abdominal aorta.

The cancer required the removal of one his kidneys, countless needles and rounds of chemotherapy.

But through it all, Isaac had the undying support of family, friends and, most importantly, the constant support of his two brothers, Matthew and Jacob, and best buddy, Rowan Kovacs.

“They were the best medicine that he ever could have had,” Trisha said.

But most of the credit for his remarkable recovery lies with Isaac himself, said his mom. Through it all, Isaac knew he had a serious illness but would always say he didn’t feel sick.

“I thought if your brain doesn’t recognize that you are sick, maybe you’ve got a better shot,” she said.

With Isaac’s prognosis a good one, the family’s focus now turns to getting back into a normal routine, something Trisha said would be easier for Isaac and his brothers than for she and husband, Jon.

“He just wants to be a little kid again and that’s all he cares about,” she said.

chris.hofley@sunmedia.ca