The Childhood Cancer Blog
The Childhood Cancer Blog
Bernadette, age 5, second generation retinoblastoma warrior
Nate, age 7, third generation retinoblastoma warrior
James, age 10 months, first generation retinoblastoma warrior
If you’ve never heard of retinoblastoma, you’re not alone. It’s a rare disease among rare diseases, with fewer than 300 kids diagnosed in the United States each year. In 2017, one of those kids was my daughter, Bernadette.
She was diagnosed early, on her second day in this world. We knew to look for retinoblastoma because her father was diagnosed with it in 1984 at 13 months old. A genetic test 30 years later confirmed our suspicion that his case of retinoblastoma was hereditary. Fast forward to today, Bernadette is 5 years old, obsessed with mermaids and cancer-free. We are... Read More
Matteo was just six months old when childhood cancer entered his life.
His parents, Kim and Alfred, were already aware of childhood cancer. Al’s employer was a sponsor of Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF). The night before Matteo was diagnosed, Kim had stayed up late baking cookies for a fundraiser at his office.
"Never in a million years did I think my kid would have cancer,” said Kim, “We knew about childhood cancer. But we did not think it would be us.”
Childhood cancer is devastating.
Matteo was diagnosed with a pediatric kidney cancer called... Read More
“They didn’t know life without the other one,” said Gloria, about her sons Grayson and Christian (pictured above)
Christian was best friends with his older brother, Grayson. The boys were just as close as brothers could be.
“They didn’t know life without the other one,” said their mother Gloria.
Then Grayson was diagnosed with anaplastic astrocytoma, an aggressive type of pediatric brain tumor, when he was just 14 years old. Christian was 12 years old. Grayson was in treatment constantly for the next two years; Christian was home.
Grayson died in March 2021, leaving his parents and his brother. The loss for the family was obviously crushing and left Gloria and her husband... Read More
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