As a Pediatric Hematologist/Oncologistu for 10 years, I have spent my life walking alongside these little warriors during what can undoubtably be considered the most difficult battle of their lives.  There exists laughter, fear, smiles, tears, victories, and setbacks but in the eyes of every child and parent is the determination to beat the beast that is cancer!  It is an unfair battle as we are still using toxic chemotherapy agents which may cure their disease but will often leave them with lifetime complications.  And sadly, we don't have the keys to cure every child we treat and therein lies the heartbreaking side of what we face.  

Alex Lemonade Stand Foundation is one of the leading Foundations helping to fund research to find those elusive cures.  Their support of young and experienced researchers in the fields of oncology, therapeutics, pharmacology, immunology, and genetics will help to bring the game changer that is needed in our field.  The aspiration that drives all of us is the hope that one day we will never again have to tell parent or child they have cancer.

Every time I meet a new family, I truly appreciate that their world has been irrepricably changed ... you say the word "CANCER" and the bottom drops out.  I can see every hope and dream they have ever had for their child flashes before their eyes.  I witness each family morph into the new reality of life dictated by treatments, blood work, clinic visits, and hospitalizations.  The financial impacts of such life changing diagnosis begin to creep in.  The normalcy of a parents job, a child's school experience, or siblings extracurricular activities seem far more challenging to manage than before the diagnosis.  

In many cases, families travel long distances to get to our clinic for their therapy and are often resource limited.  Despite state of the art therapy, there are times when a child requires a therapy we cannot provide thus a family may find themselves in an unfamiliar city to seek therapy.  Transportation and housing can fast become extremely expensive for these families leading to added stress to an already impossible situation.  

I have personally experienced the way Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation has come alongside our families to help provide transportation and housing during the trips to other institutions for experimental therapies which may represent a cure to their child's disease. 

I'm so excited at the privilege to be able to represent Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation while running the 50th Anniversary of the New York Marathon.  Having run a marathon before, I know exactly what a challenge awaits me but with each passing mile, I will be continually inspired by the amazing warriors that have walked an impossible road before more leaving an example of residence, perseverance, and determination.  When I cross that finish line, I will honor each and every child I have had privilege to walk alongside.  

I humbly ask for your support of Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation and the amazing support they provide to our patients, their families, and funding the search for a cure of childhood cancer!