Cancer.  Everyone cringes when they hear the word.  A child diagnosed with cancer; forget it.  It’s a gut wrenching, heart sinking sucker punch that sends parents down a road of confusion, anger, fear and hopelessness.  Cancer treatments for children have gotten better since the mid 1970’s, but after accidents, cancer is still the second leading cause of death in children ages 1-14.  Research for childhood cancer treatments continues to be underfunded, receiving just four percent of the annual budget from the National Cancer Institute.   

Tessa was diagnosed with Metastatic Ewing's sarcoma in May of 2019. Ewing's sarcoma is an extremely rare type of cancer that most often occurs in and around the bones in children and young adults.  It begins in the legs, bones, pelvis and arms.  Fewer than 1,000 children are diagnosed with this disease yearly.  The overall five-year survival rate of localized Ewing sarcoma is 70 percent; however, patients with metastatic disease, like Tessa, have a five-year survival rate of 15-30 percent.  

Tessa was a spunky, colorful preteen who wanted to be a teacher and gymnastics coach when she grew up.  Little did we know that after her diagnosis, she would only live for ten more months.  Her journey was short, but horrendous. Her positive attitude cannot be matched. Her will to live, did not keep her alive.  We hope that by raising awareness of childhood cancer, treatments for all types get even better, so that we can help save more children like Tessa.