Our Daughter Edie’s story is constantly evolving.  As a parent, every doctor’s visit and MRI that comes and goes with no sign of the “Big Monster” is a true miracle.  We have been blessed with three and a half years of clean scans, because of the research funding provided by Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation.  Typically this is where I would get into the specifics of Edie’s fight, but our journey did not end there.

On Tuesday April 29, 2014, my wife, who was seven months pregnant at the time, was experiencing debilitating back pain and was admitted to the hospital, where an ultrasound showed that her adrenal glands were 10 times the size they should be.  A lot of things the doctors were telling us, sounded similar to the things we  heard early on with Edie.  I sent an email to Edie’s oncologist at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), describing what we were being told and asking for her thoughts.  I received a call on my cell phone within five minutes.  The tone in her voice confirmed our worst fears.  On Thursday Emily had an MRI in Lynchburg, VA, And the images were then sent to CHOP.   We had a conference call on Friday, and Emily was diagnosed with the very rare pediatric cancer Neuroblastoma, just like Edie.  We left Virginia on Sunday and checked in to UPENN on Monday and my son Kinsey was born on Tuesday May 6, 2014, 10 weeks early.  On Friday Emily started treatment.  The same treatment and research that helped save Edie’s life is now being used to treat Emily’s neuroblastoma.

Every dollar that is raised for Alex’s Lemonade Stand has a direct impact on the lives of the children and families that are going through the worst imaginable time of their life.   Your efforts, help fund critically-needed research to find better treatments and cures for children with cancer. ALSF has raised more than $100 million since 2005 to fund 500 childhood cancer research projects at 102 top hospitals and institutions in the US and Canada.