Meet the Families You're Supporting
Wyatt Anderson
Wyatt is an energetic 2 year old who loves to climb, run and play with his Big sister Paisley. He is the sweetest soul who always has a smile on his face, especially when playing with bubbles or watching Dora. He was diagnosed March 3rd with ALL and hasn’t let that stop him since. It was a typical day of running around the house playing tag when Wyatt and Paisley bonked heads causing Wyatt to pass out, we immediately packed him up and took him to the local hospital only to be transported by ambulance hours later to Seattle Children’s hospital. His counts were incredibly low and we were told it’s a very high chance he has leukemia. By the next day he was diagnosed and receiving chemotherapy. After a month away from home, Wyatt was cleared to come home and commute to appointments instead so he was able to be with his sister which has made the world of difference. Him and his sister play all day, love singing Moana together, playing dress up, and absolutely loves being outside in the sunshine. This little man never fails to smile and has warmed everyone’s heart with his strength and softness fighting this horrible fight.
L
L is 13 years old and homeschools and is very involved in his church youth group and Boy Scouts. He has a lot of friends and enjoys playing sports with them, including soccer, basketball, football, tennis and anything else that involves a ball. He also loves playing video games with his sisters and friends. Other interests include magnet fishing, dinosaurs, animals, and his pet rabbit and cat. L is excited to start feeling better and walking better so he can get back to playing sports and going camping and backpacking again.
Deanna Gentry
Deanna (aka DeeDee) is one half of the miracle twins born to Nick and Julie Gentry, while Julie was beginning her own battle with cancer. Deanna has always been a happy baby. She likes to dress up, wear bows. Play with puzzles, balls, and listen to music. She absolutely loves the outdoors and wind chimes! In May 2021 Deanna's mom Julie noticed somethings weren't quite right with DeeDee and after a month long battle with doctors their family arrived at Seattle Children's Hospital where she was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma. Treatment started immediately for Deanna and she is proving to be the very strong girl that her family always knew she is!
Gavin Schultz
Gavin is a 17 year old from Roy, WA. Loves to hunt, fish, and be outdoors. Has one older brother and a lab named Bailey.
Violet Doughty
Violet just turned 1 years old. 4 weeks ago she was diagnosed with hepatoblastoma. Violet loves to be outside, animals, music and her sister Olivia. She is so brave and strong and a shining light in our life.
Walt Linklater III
Warrior Walt was diagnosed with Stage 4 High-Risk Neuroblastoma Cancer with the NMYC gene on July 25th, 2019. He was transferred twice before he came to Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, where we are so grateful to have the doctors and staff who have helped him so much. He is one tough warrior which is how he got his nickname Warrior Walt. In the long run, his treatment plan was to be 12-18 which we were here the entire time as we live 5 hours away from our Indian Reservation. So we are also so grateful to the Ronald McDonald House of Charities of Eastern Wisconsin for making it possible to make sure he gets the treatment he deserves, he would not have made it this far without it. He was given a 3% chance of a 5-year survival rate. On May 29th, 2020 he was declared NED, but he was to go through 6 months of immunotherapy and 3 weeks of radiation to keep this ugly thing away. The doctors are so happy, they state every time something happens Warrior Walt has always surprised them. He has had multiple rounds of chemo, a resection surgery, 2 stem cell transplants, immunotherapy, standard relapse protocol, ICE Chemo. He is high risk and has been through so much but takes on each new battle like the warrior he is. Upon going in for his second round of immunotherapy the night before his balance seemed a tad off. So when we went for admission mentioned it to the doctors. They did a CT of the head that came back normal but they wanted to be sure so ordered a body MRI the next day pushing off his immunotherapy. Later that day they walked in with the big dogs and could tell it was not good news. Informed us that the MRI showed a tumor in his spine up to the lower part of the back of the brain. As of right now, he is going through a Chemo and antibodies and currently looking into clinical trials and Neuroblastoma specialists as we know he is a true Warrior and the force is with him always. We do know this means that travel to a different state is most likely. In September we found out and agreed the best option will be North Carolina with Dr. Sholler as they have more treatment options. so the second week in September he was transferred. His treatment seemed to be helping, but upon his MRI in November 2020 we found out that cancer had spread. So the treatment team with Dr. Sholler and the rare and solid tumor program will not give up on him. So immediately they came up with a plan. He started ICE Chemo a few days before his 2nd birthday, regardless he still had a great birthday. So he Went inpatient and received cranial spinal radiation this coming Monday that will lasted until Christmas Eve of 2020. He had scans on January 28th, 2021, and on February 2nd he was transferred to NY for what we thought was about 10 weeks to get the 8h9 antibody which is a clinical trial.. Following his second round of ICE Chemo and Stem Cell Rescue. We had been out there for two cycles of the 8h9 clinical trial when he had a brain bleed and while having surgery he suffered a stroke and when he was discharged from Rehabilitation Center to help him regain function and mobility due to the stroke. Neuroblastoma Cancer is a very serious disease and is always an ongoing battle. Any help throughout this process is greatly appreciated.
Matthew Page
Mathew was born April 1, 2004 in Buffalo MN. He is the baby of the family with 2 older brothers Jeffrey (33) and Robert (25) and 1 older sister, Alaina (27). Mathew has lived all over! Calling MN,WI,ND and now WA home. Mathew plans to stay here in Washington until he graduates. After graduation he plans to move back to WI to be near his Dad, brothers and sister who lives in MN with Mathews nephews Tayler (10) and Henry (1.5) and niece Sophia (8). Mathew can often be found in his "man cave" gaming. He also loves to swim in the cold rivers, lakes, and oceans here in Washington. I personally could not handle the cold water but Mathew loves it!
Mathew is also very smart and creative. - he especially enjoys science. In both the 7 & 8th grades he continued thru to state in the science fair where he placed 3rd in engineering. We are all so very proud him and confident in the bright future ahead of him. He was finally able to return to school for 2 weeks before he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma. Through out the entire process, navigating the many "what ifs" and unknowns Mathew has maintained a positive attitude and outlook so far always saying "it's just cancer mom! They will cure me!"
We are all very excited to see what the future holds for Mathew as we know it will be bright and the possibilities are endless for him.
Kinsley Zemler
Kinsley is an amazing almost 9 year old who loves to play outside. She enjoys riding her bike, softball, swimming, basketball and volleyball. She was diagnosed with a low grade glioma located on her brain stem in November and has not let is slow her down. She is full of spunk, sass and sweetness all mixed together and although she starts out shy she is always quick to make new friends in very situation.
Aisley Hanaway
Aisley was a fighter before she was born. We used IVF to create our babies and Aisley was the first embryo we transferred - she was the strongest. She was born two weeks late and came into the world without a peep. She was wide-eyed and silent, fully taking in her new world. Aisley surprised us by sleeping great and meeting milestones well ahead of schedule. She made our family whole and we feel her love and light so strongly every day. Within her first 18 months of life Aisley traveled to 6 states and one foreign country, Iceland. She loves taking adventures, dressing up, shopping, going to music class, and playing with friends and family. Currently she especially loves princesses, dinosaurs, her special stuffed animal Cheesy Dog, and going to the hospital to see her nurses. Aisley is the older sister to two younger sisters. Her first sister, Sennett, passed away shortly after birth in October 2019. Her second sister, Elin, was born in October 2020 during Aisley’s chemo treatments. Aisley loves having a baby sister and she’s taken on the role of big sister with such enthusiasm. Aisley has grown into a silly, thoughtful, energetic, kind, and deep-thinking girl. She’s a special and important part of our family and the absolute love of our lives.
Cole Fisher
Cole has had a pretty routine childhood up until the last few years which have been extremely difficult for Cole and our family. In November 2019, Cole was a passenger in a vehicle involved in a head on collision with a drunk driver. The accident left him with a badly broken wrist in his dominant hand and a broken foot. While the foot healed quickly, the severity of his broken wrist required prolonged treatment. Cole underwent 3 major surgeries in 2020 to repair the damage to his wrist and regain mobility and usage of his hand. His final surgery in December 2020 was a great success and Cole could see a brighter path ahead. On February 27, 2020, after battling what was believed to be mono, Cole was diagnosed with T Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. The 32 days following his diagnosis were spent inpatient at Mary Bridge Tacoma. The 2.5 year treatment plan that lies ahead for Cole won't be easy but we know that we can get through it as a family. This will be the 2nd time that our family has traversed the cancer path as I am a 6 year survivor of breast cancer.
Theodore Frashure
Theodore is a bright and funny three year old who loves puzzles, trucks, and everything Mickey Mouse. He's a great older brother and is incredibly caring and compassionate. A few days she of his third birthday, he was diagnosed with renal cancer. After a successful surgery to remove a tumor, he’s now undergoing chemotherapy. Although he's on a tough journey, his spirits are high and he's hopeful for a better future. Mickey Mouse's best friend Goofy has been a great comfort to him during this time; Theodore has a Goofy doll that accompanies him to all of his appointments. If you ask him why he's sick, he can tell you that it's from cancer and he knows that he's our hero from his courage and bravery. He steals our hearts everyday and we love him more than he knows. Every Monday Theodore loves to wait for the garbage truck to visit our house so he can see the grabber arm lift the bin into the hopper. He can count (almost) to 100, loves his ABCs and speaks frequently of his excitement to start school and meet other kids when he's better.
Noah Lee
Noah is a 3 year old feisty and vivacious boy. He came into this world a little early at almost 34 wks but surprised everyone with how well he fed, grew, and developed despite the early challenges he faced. He has an older brother named Kyle who is 5 years old. They love racing their cars together and chasing each other around. Noah loves to sword fight, crash cars, dump everything in the playroom, and sing to his favorite songs. He likes to be independent and demands to do everything himself. He’s so loving, social, and ready to take on challenges such as this fight with cancer.
Haiden Huet
Haiden was born 12/05/2020. He was the second addition to our family. We were smitten with him since we first laid eyes on him. His first month of life was a little bumpy as he got a fractured clavicle during birth somehow. He had a tongue tie (ouch) that got revised and he has been able to successfully breastfeed since birth. We learned he has a dairy intolerance so I (mom) cut out dairy to make his tummy much happier. He has been a very happy baby with little fusses since that kink got worked out. He is growing like a weed just like his sister did as he is already in 6 months clothes due to height and weight. He is a very noisy baby and we love it. He grunts, groans, and chats to us all day long and has recently started laughing/ giggling.
On 2/17/2021 we went in for his two month well child check and his pediatrician asked us to take him to Mary Bridge to have an ultrasound of his stomach as one side of it was a bit hard. Our ER visit consisted of an ultrasound and CT scan. After that someone sat down in front of us to inform us that Haiden has a tumor on his adrenal gland and little ones in his liver and they believe it to be Neuroblastoma. They explained we would be admitted into the hospital and the following day we would meet with the oncologist and the team and go over a lot of information, answer questions, and explain to use procedures and tests/ scans we would be needing during our stay.
2/18/2021 we met with Dr.Tolbert and a team of people to go over Haiden’s diagnosis and the game plan for getting him better. We then had a bone marrow biopsy, MRI, and echocardiogram done before we were discharged. 2/22/2021 we met with the surgeon Dr. Barlow to go over the biopsy he would be doing and the line placement procedure. 2/25/2021 he had hearing test as one of the chemotherapy medicine he would be getting can cause hearing loss. After that we met Dr.Tolbert and the team at her clinic to go over his more accurate plan and answer more questions.
3/1/2021 we checked in bright and early at 6:30AM for surgery. We were admitted to the hospital after surgery to undergo chemotherapy 3/2-3/4 before we were able to be sent home. We have a ton of appointments and scans over the next few weeks before cycle 2 begins. On top of all of Haiden’s stuff his older sister is 5 1/2 and we are trying to manage her learning throughout Covid and trying to adjust to our families new daily routines.
Jensley McNabb
Jensley is the sweetest little 3-year-old. She is full of spunk and full of life. She loves her brothers and sisters! She is the youngest of five children. Two boys and three girls. She has been healthy her whole life and been a very active little girl. She is a big tease and loves to have fun. She loves animals especially dogs and horses. She is lots of fun to be around. January 5th of this year Jensley threw up, I thought it was a bug and didn't worry too much about it, but got very worried when she was still sick 5 days into it now saying her head hurt Aswell as continuing to throw up. I took her into the ER and we discovered through a CT scan that she had a large mass in the back of her head. We were told to go home pack and bag and get the Primary Childrens hospital in Utah that they would be waiting for us in the ER. We live in Idaho about 2 1/2 hours away. We went right away and had an emergency brain surgery to remove a large tumor that we learned is malignant and we would need radiation therapy.
Jensley was able to talk but not able to balance her body very well because of the location of the surgery and tumor in the brain. She also was struggling with swallowing. She would continue to heal and make great progress each day. We were in the hospital for 2 ½ weeks with great care! Jensley continued to improve in record time. About three days after coming home she was able to walk by herself, a little like a drunken sailor, but walk non the less walk. Lots of small and big victories. Her eating and drinking have improved immensely . She continues to make great improvements. We are about to start proton radiation therapy in Seattle Washingtion at the Proton Center there. Jensleys case was very complex because of tumor being wrapped around her brain stem. They had to make sure it would be safe for her to get the radiation without damaging her brain stem. We are grateful to all of the doctors, nurses, and medical personnel who have helped take care of Jensley and helped us navigate through these difficult times. Our hearts go out to all families and children who have to go through the trials that come with cancer. We know there are many!
Kai Dossey
Kai Bodyn is a sweet, lovable boy from Libby, MT. He enjoys singing, being read to, going on walks, and snuggling.
At 7 weeks old, he was diagnosed with neuroblastoma and flown to Seattle Children’s for chemotherapy.
Although there are days he feels unwell, he’s still able to smile when he wakes up and cheer up anyone he comes across.
Rowan Dodge
Rowan is an imaginative and high spirited 8 year old girl. She has a passion for art and animals and can be seen wearing anything with rainbows, glitter and unicorns. She has a 10 year old brother Liam and a big Great Dane dog named Dozer. Rowan has always been an active child including dance, cheer, softball, basketball and most recently Taekwondo. She loves all things Frozen but also loves to watch scary movies with her dad. On December 28th Rowan was rushed to Seattle Children's Hospital after an MRI showed a very large mass on her brain. After an 8 hour successful surgery and 9 long days in the hospital she was diagnosed with a high grade midline glioma tumor. She is currently undergoing Proton Radiation therapy along with chemotherapy medication. She has weekly physical and occupational therapy appointments to regain her strength and motor skills on her left side and hand. She is about 2/3rds done with her proton therapy treatments and will have a few weeks off before she starts her chemotherapy maintenance. She is a little fighter and we are amazed everyday by her strength and positivity.”
Zander Wainhouse
Zander is an active 12-year-old boy who is passionate about soccer, mountain biking and gaming. He has been a member of the local wrestling team and baseball league since he was 3 years old, he’s tried his hand at snow-skiing, and he loves to shoot hoops with his twin brother in the driveway. He’s in an accelerated middle school program for gifted kids. His favorite subject is math but he also writes fun and innovative creative stories, enjoys creating delicious food in his Home Economics class, and has learnt to make some fun and interesting artwork in the last year. He speaks both English and French, and before his cancer diagnosis, was learning Spanish during COVID. He is kind and considerate, helping with chores around the house, walking the family dog, and helping his mom with organization projects in the house and garage.
Nohea Chua
Nohea is currently in pre-school but, that has come to a halt since being diagnosed with B-Cell Acute Lympoblastic Leukemia on January 19, 2021. Nohea loves to draw, paint, play with her 2 sisters, our neighbors kids, family friends and her classmates. She LOVES all things pertaining to Disney princesses especially FROZEN. She loves to wear dresses every day and is so good with daily routine things. She was just discharged from Mary Bridge Hospital two nights ago after being admitted for 18 days. She’s a lot happier being home and being reunited with her sisters. This will truly be an adjustment for us as a family of 5 but, we are stronger together. We are praying for healing as we start this fight with Nohea.”
Camden Stevens
We were so excited and happy when Camden was born on 7/19/2019. He was always such a happy little boy and everyone told us how wonderful and cute he was!! In December 2020, Camden began vomiting frequently. In 2 weeks, we had 5 different appointments, including 2 urgent care visits, to try to find out what was wrong, as it didn’t seem like the typical run of the mill virus. On December 21st, 2020 he had an MRI. Upon completion of the MRI, they told us not to leave the hospital until we heard from the pediatrician. I received a phone call from The on call pediatrician who said to go immediately to the Doernbecher Emergency Room as there may be a mass in Camden’s brain. Upon arrival, they immediately had us go into an exam room and shortly after, a neurosurgeon resident came in a told us Camden had a brain tumor and would have to have surgery later in the week. This isn’t the news you expect to hear. With it being Christmas week, they said we might be able to have the surgery on Christmas Eve, if they could get all of the staff needed to be present for it. Unfortunately with the holidays it was postponed until December 29th. The surgery went well and they got all of the tumor out. We spent 3 weeks in the hospital and then left the hospital to wait for Proton Radiation to start in Seattle. He started Proton Radiation therapy on February 4th for 6 weeks. Camden is a trooper. He still is the happy boy he was before his diagnosis. He smiles and waves at everyone he meets. He gives the best high fives and sits there patiently while he gets his vital signs done every morning at radiation. This kid handles his cancer better than his parents and we are so blessed to have such a wonderful little boy. SCCA Proton Therapy
Amelia Bellmore
Our beautiful daughter Amelia was born last February in Juneau Alaska--where she lives with her older sister Lillian. She was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia in October and since then, has undergone a variety of treatments, including surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. Amelia is a social butterfly. Her favorite thing to do is walk (or ride) around the oncology ward, waving and smiling at the staff and other patients. Second to that, Amelia likes to cuddle with her mom and dad. And when she is at home, she LOVES chasing her sister around the house. The next step in Amelia's treatment is a bone marrow transplant, which begins this February.SCCA Proton Therapy
Tony Bowen
He is a sweet young man and just turned 16. He loves to talk to friends and connect through his phone and Xbox. He is a devoted Seahawks fan mostly Russell Wilson and Pete Carroll. He has dealt with disabilities and is very special. He was a 32 week gestation preemie born at the University of Washington held in NICU for two months. At 8 months old Tony received a craniotomy at Seattle children’s hospital due to a pre-frontal fusion and had two revision surgeries for a total of three under the age of 3 where the front of his skull was replaced with titanium. At 3 years old he was also mauled by a Pitbull while being cared for while I was at work at the time and he was flown out to Seattle children’s hospital for his face to be sewn back on and has minimal scaring - he held his own face the whole time no tears even while they sewed him up very brave, strong boy. He suffers with ADHD and low on the spectrum of Autism. Dec.23rd they did a surgery for a biopsy on his left side of his neck to remove a 6mm lymph node with multiple metastases attached to it. Jan. 1st received a confirmation diagnosis of Hodgkin’s lymphoma. After several more pokes and tests received again confirmation of diagnosis and staging 2A and now doing treatment at Seattle children’s hospital. He has received his first round of chemo and his second is treatment is Feb.3rd and again Feb. 16th of course several appointments and pokes and temperature checks and nutrition guidelines in-between. Hoping on getting back home and cured within 3 months. Being displaced from my other children Lenae and Janessa is hard on the both of us. We are very thankful for assistance, thank you from the bottom of our hearts
Luke Fowles
Luke is a happy, spirited nine year old. He has three older brothers and one younger brother. He was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma in November of 2020. He enjoys playing soccer and basketball. He has an incredible imagination and enjoys creating things from scratch. He loves to read comic books and graphic novels. Luke is a great friend and big helper in his family
Paisley Addis
Paisley was born in Boise, ID in August of 2015. Our family moved to Missoula, MT in 2019, where we have a small homestead where we raise sheep, pigs, chickens, turkeys, dogs, and cats. She is the 4th of 6 siblings. She loves horses and unicorns and everything Frozen. She started kindergarten this year and enjoys learning to read and playing with math manipulatives. In November of 2020, she started having headaches that just didn't go away, so we took her to the ER and after an MRI, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor and life-flighted to Primary Children's in Salt Lake City. She had brain surgery on November 22 and we spent Thanksgiving in the hospital. We were able to go home and spend Christmas at home as a family, but then she started proton radiation in Seattle the Monday after Christmas. She and I have been traveling back and forth every week and we have a couple of weeks left before she is done with radiation. After a month break, we will be back to traveling to Salt Lake so she can take part in a clinical trial.
Hana Mason
Hana was diagnosed with a genetic condition, autism, and then in 2013, brain tumors. Now Hana is almost 7 years into her cancer diagnosis. She lives with challenges related to her tumors and their treatment. These require a lot of ongoing management, and we are very frequent flyers at SCH! She has been homeschooled since 2nd grade because of her health challenges. Hana is almost 14 but younger at heart. She loves animals and plants of all kinds, and observing and being in nature. She likes to read books, study her Bible, play board games, and draw animals. Hana is a kind, caring, and intelligent girl!
Lachlan Keir
Lachlan is 12 years old. He is currently in Grade 7 and lives in North Vancouver, Canada, with his 3 older siblings (Max, age 14; Georgia, age 17; Maddy, age 19), Mom (Allie), Dad (Dave) and dog (Milo).
Lachlan is a keen golfer, baseball player and swimmer. He enjoys hanging out with his brother Max and his puppy dog Milo and playing Minecraft and Wii with his friends and siblings. His dog Milo is a border collie and Great Pyrenees cross.
Lachlan was only recently diagnosed with a cancerous ‘medulloblastoma’ tumor in his brain in late September. 1 week later he had surgery to remove the tumor. 2 weeks later, he arrived in Seattle for radiation treatments.
Lachlan and his father have relocated to Seattle for 8 weeks (October – November) to receive proton therapy radiation treatment at the SCAA Proton Therapy Centre. Proton therapy is not available in Canada. Lachlan is also receiving weekly chemotherapy treatments at Seattle Children’s Hospital to help the radiation work better.
Due to COVID-19 quarantine restrictions, the family is unable to travel back and forth between Vancouver and so Lachlan is here with just his Dad until the treatments are complete at the end of November. He’s really missing his family and friends.
After radiation, Lachlan will have a 12 month program of chemotherapy back in Canada.
Claim to fame? Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool actor) sent Lachlan a personal “get well” video message after his surgery. It was very cool. RR is the friend of a friend of a friend."
Vienna Senekerimyan
Vienna is a sweet independent 6 year old girl. She loves cooking treats and making gifts for her family, friends and neighbors. If she could, she would be in the swimming pool or lake all day everyday. She is a friend that would come running if she see someone hurt and willing to stand up for what is right. She makes sure everyone is following the rules but the rules don’t always apply to her. She love kitties, dogs and unicorns. She has a mix match style and loves to have a rock or gem in her pocket. She is not afraid to start up a conversation with a new friend at a restaurant or playground. She loves playing and teaching her little brother.
On 9/2/2020, Vienna’s 2nd day of 1st grade (remote learning), we went to Seattle’s Hospital for Labs and to figure out what virus she might have. Within an hour, the doctors pulled me to a room. I thought they were going to say “Covid!’ But boy was I wrong. They told me Leukemia. I was shocked and confused. I said “No! she can’t have Cancer! She is not that sick." I had the doctors call my husband and then they took her up to the PICU. They started hooking her up to machines and giving her Chemo. Come to find out her numbers were extremely high and she has an “high risk" AML with a few aggressive mutations (FLT-3, WT1 and NUP98/NSD1). Now we are in round 2. Waiting to see when she will do a bone marrow transplant and looking for her perfect match."
Miles Isbell
Miles John Isbell is a smile sporting, mullet wearing, fun loving, guitar playing nine year old boy from rural Northern California. He enjoys classic rock and his favorite band is Journey. Miles lives with his mom Joy, dad Bradley, and older brother Carter. Miles attends Fort Jones Elementary School and is in the 4th grade. He has always been known as the kid who is a friend to everyone. Students at his school have shared that Miles has been a friend to them when no one else has.
Miles and his brother love to have adventures outdoors on their four-wheelers. They enjoy all things outdoors including fishing, hunting and backpacking. In addition to those activities Miles loves to water-ski, snowboard, and is on the local swim team and a travel baseball team. He also raises a pig each year as a 4H project. Miles is an avid runner. He joined the 100 mile club in the first grade and has completed several 5ks and 10ks.
Miles was diagnosed with Medulloblastoma - a brain cancer in September of 2020. Ironically, his grandfather was diagnosed with a different type of brain cancer in February of 2020. Some of the same neurosurgeons worked on Miles and his Papa John at OHSU in Portland, Oregon. They will even have the same type of radiation mask!
Miles and his family are choosing to view this diagnosis and treatment plan as an "adventure" - something that implies risk and accepting the unknown.
You can follow Miles's newest adventure at @Smiles For Miles."
Raelyn Miller-Ramirez
Raelyn is a life loving, funny, energetic, eager 6-year old that was diagnosed with Medulloblastoma on September 2nd. It hit our family like a ton of bricks!
Since Raelyn’s surgery, she has not given up! She fights every single day to get herself back to good. She is an inspiration to anyone who meets her. We are just beginning our long journey to get our girl back to good health.
Thank you so much for your generosity toward our family!!! It means so very much.
Brandon Mendez Sanchez
Brandon is the sweetest, most outgoing kid I have ever met. He is quickly loved by anyone that meets him, and you feel very happy, and can’t resist from smiling at his adorable face. Since Brandon was a baby, he has always been very happy, laughing, adorable, crazy, most amazing kid I have ever been with. He is the joy in my eyes and everyone else’s.
Eli Rogala
Eli is five years old and absolutely loves LEGOS, Jurassic World and Dinosaurs, the color red, and being a super fast runner. He attends MindBenders Movement based school where he does gymnastics and swimming on Tuesdays and Thursdays and homeschools the others. He also goes to an outdoor/nature based school one day each week on the Gallatin River in Montana, where we live. Eli also enjoys riding horses, learning to read and also computer coding.
Eli loves going on RV trips all over Montana and the country, and likes being in the “upstairs bed” above the cab.
He has a little sister named Evie who is 3 years old. They like playing and watching shows together.
Eli love anything chocolate, especially chocolate cake and ice cream.
Jermain Senkuba
Jermaine Kagimu Senkuba was born in Kampala, Uganda on 09/26/2011. He moved to the states when he was 3 years old, and started his pre-school at Boze Elementary School in Tacoma. Later, he joined Dower Elementary School – Lakewood.
Jermaine likes to eat chicken and enjoys playing Roblex video games. He lives with mum, dad and 3 siblings.
Sudais Ameeri
Sudais is a boy and has two sisters and 3 brothers, living in Kent. A month ago diagnosed with Leukemia, Blood Cancer
Violet Zimbrick
Violet was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma On June 22, 2020. I felt my world crashing all around me. But violet has taught me so much about strength and bravery. Despite weekly chemotherapy, inpatient stays, throwing up all night, having no energy, and undergoing radiation, she keeps a smile on her face and continues to shine so much light.
#violetSTRONG
Miley Macias
Miley was 7 years old when she was diagnosed on 06/07/2020 with a brain tumor. Miley's eye sight started to decline a month before we took her into her pediatrician, she started needing help to walk and was losing her balance a few weeks before she was diagnosed with the tumor. Her pediatrician noticed one of her pupils were dilated and advised us to go to the children’s hospital in Las Vegas as soon as possible. After they did some scans on Miley she was admitted. They told us they had found a mass in the center of her brain. Two days later she was being airlifted to primary children’s hospital in Utah. We got there and the next day they were ready to biopsy the tumor and resect it if that was possible. They removed a portion of it during a craniotomy. The tumor was sitting on her pituitary gland & they were able to remove the part that was pushing against her optic nerve and within days after recovery Miley was able to see again. Miley now has adrenal insufficiency, diabetes insipidus, & hypothyroidism. She takes medication daily & will be on medication for the rest of her life due to the damage the tumor caused. She has completed 4 rounds of chemo in Utah at primary children’s hospital and has now started her first week of radiation in Seattle Washington at the proton center, she has 3 more weeks to go until she completes her radiation treatment and we will be able to be back home with her siblings in Las Vegas Nv where home is for Miley and I.
Maxi Estrada
Maxi has been our miracle baby since the beginning. From being told she may have Down syndrome during pregnancy and then being born a preemie we’ve constantly worried, but she’s always overcame her set backs!
Maxi has always been such a happy, energetic baby and a foodie! When she stopped eating and not wanting to play end of May 2020 we knew something was wrong. In early June it was discovered she was neutropenic and was admitted to the ICU for blood transfusions because of how severe it was.
Her diagnosis is a rare and dangerous disease known as Histiocytosis. She has invasive cells in her bone marrow and large tumors in her kidneys. Maxi required blood and platelet transfusions almost daily. Shes had multiple bone marrow biopsies, MRIs, tests and scans.
Chemo started but she had a very severe reaction to it. Maxi got even more sick, the disease advanced and we were devastated. However Maxi always manages to smile, give hugs and kisses and fight through it all. She’s won the hearts of all nurses and doctors at the hospital and her ever present smile is what keeps us going.
After spending the entire summer inpatient in the hospital we finally came home. Max is on a new chemo that is showing signs of progress! She’s gained weight, has energy again, loves playing with her dinos, painting and dancing to music.
We do however have to travel daily to the hospital for her medicines and transfusions. Her oncology team is hopeful she’ll make a full recovery after a year of treatment. Maxi is the strongest and most resilient little warrior, her vibrant energy is contagious, she is our real life hero!
Marissela Orejuela
Marissela was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in August of 2015 and Cornelia de Lange Syndrome- a rare genetic disease. This August, after three years of chemotherapy and five years cancer-free, she relapsed. She has two sisters, Angelynn (12) and Eleanor (4), who she loves to play with and will miss terribly while she is inpatient at Seattle Children’s. Marissela’s favorite things are music, dancing, playing babies, camping, swimming, and going through the car wash!
Penelope Aguilera
For several years, we hoped and prayed for a baby. In June of 2018, we began fertility treatments in Seattle and ended up doing In Vitro Fertilization. On October 21st, we had our first positive pregnancy test after a successful embryo transfer. On July 3rd, 2019 at 8:22 in the evening, we welcomed our miracle baby, Penelope Louise Aguilera into the world. She has been a blessing to everyone she comes in contact with, and is the best thing that has ever happened to us.
In November of 2019, Penelope started falling behind and failing to hit developmental milestones, so she started physical therapy. She began to improve and get back on track, but then in February she came down with an upper respiratory infection. Things started to go downhill from there. She kept getting ear infections, would vomit whenever she tried to eat purées until she eventually refused to eat them all together, had constant diarrhea, was losing weight, losing energy and regressing in her gross motor skills. She was diagnosed with failure to thrive and referred over to a GI specialist to hopefully figure out what was going on in her tiny body. After blood tests showed her electrolytes were low, and she continued to refuse anything by mouth besides breastmilk, and kept losing weight, her GI Doctor instructed us to take Penelope to the ER on July 17th.
We had been at Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital for over a week when we finally received confirmation from Seattle Children’s on the diagnosis Mary Bridge suspected based on a biopsy taken from Penelope's colon. Our baby was diagnosed with a rare cancer called High Risk, Multi-System Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis 3 weeks after her first birthday. Penelope began her chemotherapy and steroid treatment on the day we received her diagnosis; her Oncology team wanted to start as soon as possible, because the disease was found in so many different places throughout her body. We stayed in the hospital until August 11th and she received 3 chemo infusions while we were there. During this 26 day hospital stay, Penelope endured more than most adults could possibly imagine going through themselves. She had multiple X-rays, a CT scan, an MRI, a Colonoscopy, a Broviac Central Line placed, IV’s in her arm and foot (along with many failed attempts, resulting in many bruises), a Bone Marrow Biopsy, 2 NG tubes, 24 days of IV nutrition, a blood transfusion, 3 deep sedations and she was put under general anesthesia once.
We are now home, settling into our new normal. Penelope is happier, healthier and stronger than ever. Aside from her new accessories (a feeding tube and a central line) you wouldn’t even know something was wrong with her. Her journey is just getting started. She will undergo at least a year of Chemotherapy, depending on how her body responds, but she is strong, SO resilient, and we know that God is faithful. We pray and have faith that this time next year, our baby will be healed and cancer free!
Westley Rohrbach
Westley has a magnetic personality that fills the room. He has an easy-going attitude and continues to be full of joy and energy through the physical pain of his cancer treatment and emotional challenges of living away from home. Wes is quick to smile and laugh, and warms our hearts every day with his big blue eyes, his playfulness, and his excitement for new experiences.
Zoe Koenig
Zoe Evelia Koenig was born in Veracruz, Mexico, on 01/02/2008. She is a proud big sister of her 2 younger brothers, an artist, singer, swimmer, great friend, jokester, and an all-around wonderful human being. She is the mama of a new kitty and has 2 dogs.
Lucia Caroll
After Lucia turned 5 months old her dad noticed a big lump, the size of a key lime, on the back of her left thigh while he was holding her. The results were inconclusive, so they ordered an MRI and we were referred to Seattle Children’s Hospital. After the MRI was done, a team of doctors came into the room to talk to us. My husband was not present physically during the appointment due to all the COVID-19 restrictions, but he was on the phone. The doctors introduced themselves and when I heard the word “oncology” I knew this was bad news. They told us the lump looked like cancer and they gave us the names of 4 possible diagnosis. Our world was crumbling down. We got a call from one of the Oncologists with the diagnosis the very next day. She was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare type of cancer that is even rarer in babies. The doctor explained to us that this type of cancer could be linked to a genetic predisposition to develop cancer, so genetic testing would be necessary in order to determine if this was the case. During the following appointment, we discussed the plan for our sweet girl. She would need chemotherapy, surgery and possibly radiation. She had her port put in a couple days later and started chemotherapy the following day. The first round was brutal. She had an NG tube put in to help with her nutrition and she continued her weekly chemotherapy. After the first two rounds of chemo, we noticed the tumor was continuing to grow, which meant it was not responding to chemotherapy. A few days later we had a meeting with Lucia's Oncologist, her Orthopedic Surgeon and the Radiologist, and we put together a plan. Lucia would undergo a full leg amputation the next day and she would receive a different chemotherapy treatment with the hopes that it would kill all the remaining cancer cells left in her body. On May 27th Lucia went through her leg amputation and did great. Lucia started her new chemotherapy treatment 2 weeks after her big surgery and she is doing great!! She has a new chance to beat her cancer and we will do everything in our power to support her.
David Hantla
David is a kind, fun-loving 8-year-old who is currently on the 5th round of his fight against acute lymphoblastic leukemia. He has relapsed four times since he was first diagnosed as a one-year-old. David and his family live in Chandler, AZ but have moved to Seattle for most of 2020 to undergo CAR-T and then bone marrow transplant. Even though he has been fighting leukemia almost all his life, David doesn't let cancer define him. His two siblings, Elianna (12) and Andrew (6), are his best friends. He loves Legos, all things Star Wars, and most of all, going to the beach. David has been in the hospital for almost two months and can't wait to be back together as a family, hopefully cancer-free.
Caylee Kim
Caylee is 6 years old and the middle child of 3 siblings. She’s a great girl to be around and play with and her friends and siblings love her. She has a spunky personality and can often be heard making comments that make you shake your head and laugh. She would play all day outside (if she could) riding her bike, playing games with her friends, going to the beach, etc. Inside you can find her playing make-believe with her dolls and dinosaurs, or building legos with her brother. She loves tea parties, butterfly kisses, and playtime with her younger sister. She has a very caring personality and is full of hugs and snuggles. She enjoys being read to and loves hearing stories when her parents, aunts, and grandparents were little. She is very smart and even though school isn’t her favorite, she has excelled in learning new skills. With the new knowledge she has learned in school this year, she loves trying to read things on her own and write in one of her many journals.
Caylee is currently in icu as of now, please let me know if you need anything else. Don't hesitate to call or text. I appreciate and thank you and your team very much in advanced for coming up with such a great idea of giving back to those in need going through stressful times as some of you have been here in my shoes before, you know the heartache as parents just watching and feeling helpless.
I have met Grier, and she told me great things on what you guys do as she was taking care of my daughter. Thank you and God bless you.
Hazel Garcia
Hazel is our sunshine. She's been a petite little peanut since her entry into this world three weeks early. Strangers were always cooing over her "daintiness," but make no mistake, she can be fierce. As a baby, she could be so serious, often giving side-eye to any adults who tried to make her laugh. Only her brother could reliably elicit musical peals of delight or big belly laughs. To this day, they are each other's best friend, fiercest defender, and sometimes bitterest rival.
As she has grown, Hazel has developed a goofy sense of humor and a creative imagination. She loves her scary movies and nice monsters, but she also loves rainbows, narwhals, and anything tiny that she can caress and call a baby.
Behind the huge hazel eyes that everyone notices lies a shrewd little mind. This child has trained us well. She has learned to trade her compliance in medical matters for licorice. Despite my bag of snacks, she has the doctors and nurses take her to the snack room on every clinic visit - and she makes me ask them!
Grayson Stumpf
This is Grayson Stumpf. He is 11 years old and is headed to middle school. He has an older brother Stormy who is 15. He has a cat named Pepper and 2 dogs. One is Dash and his new puppy is Starky. Grayson is an awesome soccer player & a bulldog on the baseball field. He is a great teammate and friend to all. He is known as the Bossman. He loves seals and is going on a trip to meet some in August.
Zoey Bautista
Zoey is our shy, strong willed girl! She holds a gift of love & giving! Zoey is a younger sister to her brother Gavino, but an older sister to her 2 year old sister Maitia. She’s mommy’s mini me and has that burst of energy when I’m the room. She’s always ensuring the house is clean, chores are being done properly, and everyone is taken care of, especially Daddy.
Day 4 in the hospital and all she could think about was... let’s make a card for Father's Day. I wonder what we can cook him or bake him. She made sure to make the phone call to her older brother reminding him of Daddy’s gift we got him in the cabinet ❤️
Day 8 was Aunty Netta's Birthday (aunty flew in town to help care for the siblings) She made sure to make a card, but really wanted to make a “prank” cake since she wasn’t able to bake a cake herself. She also made sure mommy had a cake at the house so aunty was able to enjoy a real cake on her birthday. With everything going on all she thought and continued to think about was the care of others! Zoey holds the gift of giving! She gives without return, she gives to make others happy! Her joy in life is seeing the joy in others!!
Loralai Kunze
Loralai is an honor roll student that just turned 16 years old. Our family moved to Coeur d' Alene, ID, 4 years ago, but we are proud Texans at heart. Loralai's primary passions are baking and art. She also enjoys reading, writing, and watching anime. Prior to getting sick she really loved her weights and fitness class, specifically the weight lifting part. She is currently learning to play bass and ukulele with the help of her stepdad, Ben, and the music therapists in the hospital. One of her favorite past times (before Covid/diagnosis) was going out to eat as a family. On Christmas day, I noticed excessive bruising on her forearms. Between that and several recent nose bleeds, we decided to schedule an appointment with her pediatrician to have blood work done. By December 31st she was admitted to our local children's hospital where she was diagnosed with a very rare type of high-risk leukemia. We were told then that chemotherapy alone will not cure her, and she will require a bone marrow transplant in Seattle, WA. We arrived in Seattle on April 23rd and she received her transplant after rigorous conditioning on May 22nd. She has a long road ahead of her but she is so strong!
Harper Chittim
Harper was born on April 28th, 2019 7 weeks early and started her first few weeks of life out in the NICU. November 1st last year she was diagnosed with ALL. We started out with induction chemotherapy and eventually transitioned into immunotherapy, at that point the ALL switched to AML, so we started AML therapy. After that, she switched back to ALL so we started immunotherapy again and we were able to get her disease down to .003% at which point we decided to go through with the bone marrow transplant. She received a cord blood transplant that was successful. Unfortunately, her disease came back after 3 weeks. We tried a new drug called venitoclax with steroids and chemotherapy. A couple weeks into the treatment harper got very sick to the point where we were preparing for the end. Her mother and I decided we were not done fighting and even though we were unsure that blenatumomab would work with her this close to transplant we decided to start it anyways. Within 1 week of starting it, Harper came back to us and her disease went from 95% in her marrow to .008%. She is back to her happy playful self. Currently, we are trying to get a new drug approved to wipe out her disease completely.
Lilith Kahn
She loves to watch Youtube, try makeup tutorials, paint, play outside (riding her bike or playing tetherball). She has the sweetest heart and is very strong-willed.
Melina Zhang
Melina is the most beautiful soul, sweet and kind girl in the world. She is an active and happy girl. She had just celebrated her long-awaited third birthday. After a week of high fever, she was diagnosed with AML (Acute Myeloid Leukemia) in 2019. It turned our lives upside down. During her treatment at Seattle Children's Hospital, she was found to be at high risk of leukemia and required a bone marrow transplant. After completing two rounds of chemotherapy, she was in full remission and underwent a umbilical cord blood transplant. She is now recovering from the transplant.
Persephone Belcher
She is a Scorpio, loves reading and excelling at school and she would do anything for her family.
Jazzy Guillen
Jazzy is a Junior at Prosser High School. She is a varsity soccer player who has always had a passion for the sport. She loves the outdoors, horses and being with her family who loves her deeply. She was diagnosed with Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumors in February 2019. She is a fierce child of God and loves Jesus with all her heart. She has an army of supporters and fights the good fight every day as we learned that her cancer came back 3 months after her first clear scans. She lives every day to the fullest and has a smile that lights up a room.
Donovan Flagg
Elliot Kondik
Elliott was born via C-section on April 5, 2018 at 2:53pm. Right from the start, I knew this child had something special. He looks up at the sky and smiles because he sees the sun. He's always happy. He loves so deeply and much already. He's the first toddler I've met that possesses empathy. He can feel others' emotions and will ask "you ok". He is a super sweet child with a thirst for knowledge and life. He's outgoing, expressive, artistic, and super into music. His internal light is very bright. His current favorite thing is cars. He's way into cars. My partner has a racecar, and he asks all the time if he can "drive" the racecar. (In park, lol) Then we can't get him out. He's an absolute delightful child that makes everyone smile. Plus, he's adorable. He hasn't done much in his short life, but he's impacted mine like no other. Him and his sister are my world. Everything I do is for them. In the end, we are a strong, loving, little family.
Kaia Jeppesen
Kaia is a sweet, funny, smart 7 year old. She was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia on March 30th, 2020 at Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital after being initially brought in for trouble breathing and chest pain. She was immediately admitted and treatment was started right away. Kaia was at Mary Bridge for just over 2 weeks before being discharged to finish the rest of her induction at home. After 4 nights of being home, she woke in extreme pain on her right flank and was readmitted for a kidney stone. She’s continued on with treatment and as of April 30 she is in remission! She still has a long 2 years of treatment ahead, but she’s a strong fighter and our family is ready to take on this challenge.
Sorayah Estrada
Sorayah came into the world an entire month early. We were actually celebrating her Father's birthday and while at the grocery store with my 2 girls, we decided it might actually be happening and began to keep track of the time between contractions. She has been full of surprises ever since. Being early, she had Jaundice and had to be on blue lights, she ended up dehydrated and we were back in the ER within the week. They admitted her and during that time we discovered she has Down Syndrome. She was having some issues with her liver processing bilirubin and we were seeing a GI doctor with the fear of a liver transplant looming over us. Thankfully she only needed time to catch up and everything was fine. Next, we had our Down syndrome consult with a binder full of things that could go wrong. Sorayah proceeded to beat the odds in many health issues and persisted to amaze us!
Three weeks ago, everything turned upside down for us once more when we discovered Sorayah has AML. I had been struggling to find out why my sweet girl was limping and presenting pain in many places, amid a COVID-19 climate where without a fever hospitals really didn’t want to see you. She immediately had a Hickman, bone biopsy, spinal tap, and her first round of an aggressive round of chemo lasting 10 days and then a reaction to one of the antibiotics which gave her a head to toe severe rash. Through it all, she has stayed her usual feisty but sweet self. She has had many pokes and prods, testing her coping skills but she maintains her playfulness despite.
COVID-19 adds even more challenges to an already stressful and overwhelming experience, making it so our family is separated when we need each other most. Only one parent can be with her at a time and she will mainly be at the hospital for 6 to 9 months due to a lack of immunities during chemo. She misses her siblings and they miss her terribly. We have had to become creative and resilient as a family very quickly. I am so proud of how my children have come together to make videos for her and wave to her from windows to keep her spirits up. It is hard as a parent to not feel torn in two different directions at this time, but we continue to look for silver linings and stretch and grow in love.
Tomas Fernandez
Tomas was born in Bogota, Colombia, 10 years ago. He is the most beautiful soul, sweet and kind boy in the world. He is an active and happy boy. He loves to play basketball and Fortnite in his Xbox. He likes to help people and take care of the people he loves. We came from our country, escaping from some really bad things and looking for a best future for him. He always has been going to medical appointments because he suffers a condition called dyslipidemia. He has been in the Wellness Program at the Seattle Children’s Hospital.
One typical day, Tomas felt a bump, like a Ping- Pong ball size on his chest and he told us about it. It didn’t look normal to us, so immediately we made the appointment with his pediatrician. She also saw it wasn’t normal, so she referred him to the Seattle Children’s for a second opinion. That day, we were in the ER and it seemed like it took forever. They did labs and images. Finally, they found out something wrong. He had a big mass on his chest and some on his lungs. They told us that it could be Cancer. We were devastated. You never, never want to hear something like that, and mostly when it’s about your kids.
Then, we were referred to the Hem- Onc clinic. They did the deepest exams, such as a CT scan, PET scan, and biopsy. They confirmed the diagnosis: Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. It was the scariest thing that we have heard. When you say or hear the "Cancer" word, you think the worst. But, the doctors told us everything about his type of Cancer from statistics to treatment which ended up being more positive than negative. Now, we’re in his third round of chemo. We have two more and then radiation. He’s doing a great job! We expect this finish soon and be back to our normal life. However, this has been a different, tired, hard and kind of good experience that we never will forget. COVID- 19 makes things harder, but it is what it is. The most important thing is that we are so proud of him and happy with the son that we have, as well. He’s brave and strong.
God has a purpose in our lives, and he’s gonna take his story to the world!
Lucas Nethercott
Lucas is a very happy kid. He loves using his hands and brain to build and create.He has been known to build amazing toys and
robots from things out of the recycling bin.He loves being active with sports and outdoor activities. He has an infectious smile that lights up a room. He is gentle, soft-spoken, and kind to all things and friends.
Collin Young
Collin was born 8/29/18. He does have trisomy 21. He failed his newborn testing. He was born with a hole in his heart called in arterial septal defect which resolve itself a few months after his birth. He was also born with a cataract in his left eye which was removed with surgery at three months old. He was also diagnosed with myleoproloferitive disorder at birth which also went away for a while until November 7th when he was diagnosed with acute myleogenous leukemia which he isnow being treated for. All the things Collin has already been through these first 15 months of his life he is so happy and so strong.. He loves life and all the attention he’s getting from doctors and nurses and everyone around him. He lights up a room with his smile and loves to pull hair and anything that dangles that he can pull. He loves noisy flashy toys. He is the happiest little boy no matter what life throws at him. I love my little boy so much. Thank you.
Ashley Okert
Ashley is a very strong willed two-year-old who is not afraid of anything. Ashley likes to be silly and make other people laugh, she will put things on her head to be funny and make silly sounds to make you giggle. Ashley loves playing with baby dolls and watching the TV show puppy dog pals on Disney Junior. Ashley‘s favorite animals are puppies and kitties, we have one dog and one cat at home and Ashley loves them so much. Ashley is a very family oriented two-year-old that loves to be surrounded by the people she cares for. Ashley was diagnosed with med you love blastoma in November 2019 and has since undergone brain surgery to get the tumor removed and is currently doing chemo therapy to get rid of the cancer on her spine. Ashley again is a strong-willed two-year-old and with all she is going through still has a smile on her face and loves to make others laugh.
Josiah Hughes
Josiah is a happy, fun, sweet 2 year old boy. He loves his siblings, Toy Story, playing outside and wrestling around with his Daddy. He is super funny and loves to do things to make his Mom laugh. Life was completely normal for the Hughes family until Halloween this year. Josiah fell down and his Mom and Dad started to notice him limping. They watched it through the weekend and on Monday when the limp didn’t stop they decided to go to Urgent Care. They took xrays and saw a mass in his knee. They thought it could be a tumor and sent him to the orthopedic surgeon who then scanned his whole body and found multiple spots on his growth plates. They forwarded them on to Seattle Children's Hospital where they did an ultrasound of his tummy and found a mass on his adrenal gland above his kidney the size of a softball. After the biopsy they confirmed that it is Neuroblastoma and we immediately started the treatment plan and just finished our first round of chemo.
Evander Fernando
Evander is a super thoughtful boy. I always joke and say he is my most considerate child. He waited to make his appearance until I had my relaxing weekend I had planned and baby shower. I drove home for my baby shower and got out of my car and my water broke. He is so incredibly loving. He gives kisses almost to the point of awkward when he hold his arms around your head to keep the kiss going. He loves dinosaurs and trains and car sets. You have to make him come in from playing outside. If he could live outside he would. He just started preschool and absolutely loves that also. When we pick him up we have to chase him to make him leave. He loves to read and learn. He is just incredible in every way.
Katie Marchant
Katie is a 16 year old, warm hearted, generous spirited, animal loving, arty girl. She loves to take photographs, make movies, play her violin, sing, ride horses and spend time with her animals.
She is very imaginative, writes great stories, and also writes inspiring quotes on her photographs.
Roberta Maestas
She is the oldest of four kids. She loves to read, play volleyball, and the cello. She was diagnosed with Ewing’s Osteosarcoma just 2 months shy of her 14th birthday. The cancer was found in her upper left arm, and she is left handed. After 30 weeks of chemo, 7 surgeries and removal of 2/3rds of her upper left arm. We were told that the cancer was back. The first words out of her mouth was “ OK doc. Now what do we do?” least to say she is a fighter. Through all of this she has kept a great attitude, and she has inspired everyone she has met ago the way.
Belladonna Lacey
Belladonna is a witty 10 year old. She is currently attending 5th grade at Washington Connections Academy online. Belladonna adores cats and enjoys the 4 that live with. She Hope’s to be an artist when grows up. She often plays make believe with her older sister, Kitty. Another favorite pastime of hers is playing video games. She loves fairytales and fantasy. Movie night is also great joy of hers. Belladonna is loyal and extremely compassionate.
Dylan Murdoch
Dylan is so sweet and loving. His smile is contagious. His favorite thing to do is play board games. His new favorite game is Hive. He also loves to play chess. He is always positive and very friendly. This has been a very hard experience but he is strong. His favorite food is Costco Hotdogs. He loves comfy blankets and stuffed animals. He excels at math and loves to be challenged.
Masihullah Wafa
MasihullahWafa Immigrated with his family from Afghanistan in 2018. He is a very proactive guy and very smart. He didn’t know anything about his upcoming journey in America. He was going to school regularly and exercising every day and working hard to achieve his goals. He was learning English and getting his education at School.Recently him and his family are suffering from his cancer, unfortunately he got leukemia here in Washington state.
Patrick Rudolph
Patrick is a very busy little boy who will be turning 3 in April. Prior to diagnosis, he loved to play outside in his sandbox, ride his bike, play with friends, and watch his favorite movies. He was diagnosed abruptly with a Medullablastoma after an ER visit for what we thought were symptoms from a common cold/virus. Our world was turned around. We are now in the thick of chemotherapy to battle the cancer in addition to rehabilitation therapy to help get him back to where he was prior to developing Posterior Fossa Syndrome. This has caused our very active little boy to be stuck in his hospital bed for the last three weeks. We continue to stay positive and celebrate the successes when we get them.
Pierce Kight
Pierce, our 4 1/2 year old, is a smiley, spunky, fun-loving, little firecracker. He is the baby of the family, with three older brothers and a cat. He beats his brothers in every wrestling match only because his brothers let him win (don't tell him that ;)). He adores his daddy and is his little buckaroo. Pierce is a cuddle bug with mommy and willingly gives kisses at any moment of the day (only to mommy though). He is very active, loves to jump on the trampoline, swing, slide, ride bikes, play baseball, and do all things with his family. He enjoys going to preschool and loves to color and play with friends. He is a huge fan of Marvel but especially Captain America.
Pierce was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) on February 21, 2020 after a doctors visit the day before for enlarged lymph nodes. Pierce's Oncologist told us this is a three-year battle. After spending two weeks in the hospital for his induction period, he was released early to head home and continue treatment. Only one week later, we rushed Pierce to the E.R because of extreme pain in his stomach and blood in his urine. He was diagnosed with two kidney stones, 5 and 6 mm in size. He was re-hospitalized. After having surgery to insert a stent, he stayed in the hospital for a couple days. Then released again to head home. He will return to the hospital in a couple weeks to have the stones removed by laser, since he is too small and it is too risky to pass them on his own. On top of Pierce's diagnosis, we are now dealing with the scare of the Corona Virus and how it is easily transmitted. Pierce is already immune compromised and this just makes him more susceptible to this dangerous virus.
Pierce is a brave and resilient little red-head! We are amazed at his courage in dealing with all these new and painful experiences. We are so glad to have a great oncology team at Mary Bridge Children's Hospital helping him get better. We can't wait for the day for Pierce to be done with treatments to enjoy the things we used to do as a family.
Eva Burke
Eva is a very sassy & fun loving four year old who loves to play with her big brother Eli (7) and close friends. She has a love for all Disney princesses, especially anything to do with the movie Frozen. On February 27th, our world was turned upside down when woke up in the middle of the night complaining of severe stomach pain. After a trip to the ER it was determined there was a large tumor on her right kidney that required surgery. On March 5th, after surgery and being in the hospital for a week, we found out she had favorable Wilms tumor stage III. She is definitely a fighter and with the love and support she continues to receive, we know she’ll get through this.
Brandon Thomas
In March of 2020, Brandon, a 15 years old and a sophomore at Central Valley HS, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma lower right leg. Brandon is a 3.85 GPA student in the classroom and a standout athlete outside of the classroom. Following the 2019 football season, he was a 1st Team All-GSL selection at LB and CV’s Defensive MVP. Brandon’s infectious smile makes friends of everyone that meets him. In his spare time, you can find him playing video games with his brother (Joshua) or the countless friends good enough to keep up with him on Fortnite. With Faith, Family, and Friends, Brandon began his fight through chemotherapy in mid-March and a community of supporters were right there with him.
Olive Renner
Olive is a spunky, funny, shy but observant 5-year-old who loves animals, especially dogs. She was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia on 3/16/2020 after a trip to the ER for viral symptoms. She has accepted her diagnosis and new reality like a true hero. Olive’s only complaint is that she misses her “sister” (our chocolate lab). Olive loves to smile, giggle, play Wii and is especially good at balancing. When we get home she cannot wait to snuggle Rita, bake cookies and paint her bedroom pink.
Helal Arman
Helal Arman was born with his twin sister Heela Arman on March 14th, 2018, in Kabul, Afghanistan. Helal was considered by doctors to be underweight and had continuous diarrhea with a rare fever for next year. Doctors did some blood tests which revealed that his hemoglobin and iron levels were low, so he was given iron and multivitamins drops. There is not a developed health system in Afghanistan so the doctors were not able to run diagnoses testes to find the exact disease of infections. Instead, the doctors were prescribing him regular antibiotic and fluid serums for his dehydration due to his constant diarrhea and sleep sweating at night. On July 17th, 2019, he moved to Washington state with his father, mom, and sister to the United States base from his father’s special immigration visa granted by the US government due to employment at the US Army Project in Kabul. After moving to the US, Helal start growing with the provided WIC nutrition program and all the blood testes were going normal. Helal started walking, playing, and jumping again with his sister. On March 10th, he had a fever that reached 104 and the Tylenol that he was given was not responding well so he was recommended to be sent to the ER. Helal celebrated his 2nd year birthday (March 14th) at the hospital with deep pain and high fevers. After 5 days of regular tests, Helal was diagnosed with Acute lymphoblastic leukemia after a bone marrow test. Doctors started chemotherapy treatment on March 17th, 2020, and Helal is currently under the treatment at Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma, Washington. His parents are suffering terrible days with his cancer treatment.
Otto Boring
Otto was diagnosed with neuroblastoma in March 2020, and is currently undergoing chemotherapy to prepare for the surgical removal of his tumor. An active and outgoing toddler, Otto happily spends most of his time outdoors, playing in the backyard or taking walks to the park with mom and dad. Other favorite activities include playing with his prized toy cars, reading books, solving puzzles, and painting. His curiosity, adventurousness, and infectious exuberance know no bounds, despite the difficulties presented to him.
Regina Rameriez
Regina has always been a healthy girl up until February 2019 when she started having pain on the left side of her head. We thought that she needed some kind of vitamins because she has always been a picky eater and was losing weight.
One day when I was doing her hair and noticed a bump on the same spot she was having the pain. We took her to the doctor and he referred that she get an x-ray done. This happened on April 2nd. He then referred her to get an MRI done. That same day we took her to Seattle Children's Emergency clinic.
After they did some test, they told me what no parent ever wants to hear, they told me Regina has cancer. LCH to be exact. A rare but curable type of cancer. She needed to have surgery to get the mass removed from her head and would need to start chemotherapy soon after. On June 3rd she had her second surgery to get a port placed on her chest. The same day she started chemotherapy every week for two months and then every three weeks. This was very hard for us in many ways because we live in Kingston and had to travel about two hours to get to the hospital, then two hours back home. As hard as it was going back and forth every week we feel more than blessed that we can bring her back home with us. Doctors have done more studies on her because the type of cancer she has can happen in different places of the body.
Thank God all studies have returned negative. We are hopeful that by June it will be her last chemotherapy and surgery to get her port out. Regina amazes us everyday on how well she has handled this disease and how strong she is. She always has a smile on her face even on the worst days.
Joselin Ochoa Tacuba
Joselin lives in Royal City, Washington with her mother, young sister, aunt, and several cousins. She enjoys crafts, painting, basketball, soccer and doing her nails. Joselin and her mother relocated to Seattle for her treatment and miss being wiht the rest of the family.
Aiden Cruz
Aiden was diagnosed on May 28th, 2019, after weeks of taking him to the ER with stomach aches and fevers. Finally, we heard the word no family ever wants to hear, 'Leukemia'. He was four years old and turned five in the hospital getting a bone marrow biopsy. He said it was the worst birthday ever, and he was so right. At the time he was attending Tiny Trees outdoor preschool but had to stop just one month short of completing. He now goes to school at Children's Hospital when he's feeling well enough. We moved back to Seattle from Tukwila 17 days after receiving the diagnosis. His grandmother, my mother has since moved in with us to help me care for him and so I can work part-time. He is the sweetest boy, always reminding his grandmother if she's forgotten to hug him goodbye. He motivates me to get up and enjoy the days we are given. He is my everything. He loves all animals, especially my mother's cat, Tofu.
Jules Nuttal
Our little Jules was diagnosed with Retinoblastoma on June 20th after we kept seeing a little reflection in the back of her eye while changing her diapers. She has remained her adorable happy little self as she has begun her fight to save her eye. We are so grateful for the new Intra Arterial Chemo treatments that seem to be working so well. She is a fighter, a light, and a great example to her family, and her twin brother. We sure love her so very much.
Everett Neilson
Everett is our 2.5-year-old ball of high energy. He was diagnosed with stage 4 high-risk neuroblastoma at 4.5 months old on Thanksgiving Day 2017. He endured 6 rounds of inpatient chemo, a tumor and rib resection, 2 bone marrow transplants, 12 rounds of radiation to the abdomen and his left eye, and 6 months of immunotherapy in Portland, OR. After completing all that in 19 months for his initial protocol, a new mass appeared on what was supposed to be his end of treatment scans. Another biopsy confirmed that the mass was neuroblastoma in August 2019, and we decided it would be best to transfer treatment to Seattle Children's for relapse treatment of 6 days of chemo and immunotherapy combined. After 2 rounds, scans declared him to have "no evidence of active disease", but he will continue to receive this treatment regimen every 3 weeks until August 2020.
Everett has a 5 year old brother, Wesley, and will be a big brother in February 2020! Everett struggles with eating and has high-frequency hearing loss due to treatment, but doesn't let that slow him down. Everett loves being outside, riding four-wheelers and tractors on the farm, jumping on the trampoline, swinging, and doing anything that Wesley does. He is obsessed with motorized vehicles, tearing apart toys, lightsaber fights with big brother, and eating the soft middle part of bread slices. He is a joy to our family and teaches us so much about the meaning of resilience, patience, and perseverance.
Kiayla Wilkes
Kiayla is 13 yrs old. She has two younger sisters that are 11 and 10. She currently attends Jason Lee Middle school and is in the 8th grade. Her favorite subject is science and she was on the girls basketball team the last two years.
Owen Heitman
Owen loves sports, cross country, swimming, and track.
He volunteers at Federal Way National Little League, umpiring, keeping score and prepping the ball fields. Owen wants to join the military to be a plane mechanic.
Ashlyn Vermeer
Ashlyn was complaining of leg pain and one night it became very severe. She was taken in for an x-ray. An hour after, their family doctor contacted them saying that they discovered a tumor in her right fibula. They were sent to Seattle Children's the following week. On September 17, 2019, Ashlyn was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma. She had a biopsy done on the 18th confirming the diagnosis. She started chemotherapy on October 1st and was in treatment for 31 weeks. Surgery was scheduled for January 2nd to have the tumor and part of her fibula removed. Ashlyn and her Mom are living at the Ronald McDonald house while the rest of her family is at home.
Tyler Deason
Tyler Deason of Gold Bar, WA was diagnosed with an extremely rare bone cancer called Ewing Sarcoma. It affects the ages of 5-20 years old and travels through the bloodstream, possibly attacking the organs. Fortunately, for Tyler, it has been isolated to his right foot and at this point, has not spread. Tyler began the most aggressive chemotherapy treatment that Seattle Children's administers just two weeks after his diagnosis.
Michael Macy
Michael is 15-years-old and was diagnosed on October 22, 2019 with a relapse of small cell osteosarcoma in his right humerus and clavicle bone as well as in both his right and left lower lungs.
Lucy Prutz
Lucy was born on January 2, 2015, and right away she was a very special person. Ever since Lucy was a baby, she never liked to be far from her mom or dad. She is still like that to this day. Lucy loves people and life very deeply. Sometimes she expresses that she gets sad when others are sad, and she constantly reinforces her love for her family throughout the day by giving lots of hugs, kisses, and saying "I love you." Lucy loves music, she doesn't just hear a song...she feels it. She loves Disney movies, cartoons and loves all the classic princesses and things of them as dear friends. Lucy loves her preschool, she started attending when she was 2 ½ years old. It was hard at first for her to be in a new place, but now her school is such a big part of her life, and it's where some of her other passions come to life, such as writing and drawing. Lucy is very particular about what she likes, she does not like to color in coloring books. She likes lined paper and a black pen, nothing fancy. She says she wants to be a writer when she grows up. She has notebooks upon notebooks of her plans for family picnics, trips, special dates with her parents, and more. Lucy loves sunny days, playing outside, and going on adventures. She was diagnosed with brain tumors/cancer on November 26th, 2018. We saw Lucy deteriorate in the following months. She almost did not make it to her 4th birthday. She lost her ability to walk, she could not make decisions, she was angry, and unable to sleep. She did though, and she started a clinical trial shortly after her birthday and began her recovery. After months of work with her parents, she regained the ability to walk and she slowly started to become the real Lucy again. She returned to school, she went on adventures and she was living her life again. We received news on July 10th 2019 that Lucy's tumors were growing again and the medicine was no longer working. We started a new clinical trial on July 24th, 2019 and continue to fight the battle with brain cancer, with family close by your side. Lizzy has too many plans for this disease to slow her down.
Skyla Norris
Skyla has always been such a free spirit. Her favorite things are to be outdoors, to play with her big brother Dante, and to visit her family, especially with her great-grandpa. She has the silliest personality and is full of sass! The week after her birthday we had a trip to Wenatchee planned for the weekend. The day we arrived is when we became concerned after her car sickness she was experienced and the fever that could not be kept down. We ended up in the ER at 3:30 am because we thought she might be dehydrated or getting the flu. This is when the results came back from her lab work and we were told the heartbreaking news that this most likely was cancer. We were then immediately transported to Seattle Children's where the results were confirmed and where she immediately started treatment. This has been very difficult to accept, but we have and will do whatever it takes to help her beat this. We appreciate all of the support so much!
Deki Long
Deki had been having fevers for three weeks. We couldn't figure out what was wrong with them so we took him to urgent care to get checked for infection. Once his blood work was checked, we got a call telling us to rush to Children's Hospital in Seattle. In the morning we got a bone marrow biopsy done and by the afternoon, we had our results: ALL Leukemia. We have about 5 months of treatment left here in Seattle, then we can move back to Richland and will have our care managed through our home doctors. Deki is very lively. He enjoys running around and playing with toys. He loves making friends and his favorite time of the year is Christmas. His favorite toys are trucks, trains, and Paw Patrol. His favorite movies are Bob the Builder and Thomas the Train.
Dalayna Singer
Dalayna is a 15-year-old who was diagnoses with NK/T Cell lymphoma back in September of 2015. She is from Billings, MT and aspires to be a fashion designer/artist. She is currently living in Seattle recovering from a stem cell transplant she received in February of 2019 from a random donor with Be the Match. Her mother is currently fighting the same cancer with SCCA at the UW Medical Center in Seattle. She enjoys hanging out with family, shopping trips and watching new movies. Traveling is on her list to do when she gets 100% better. She has been back and forth with remission.
Elijah Loveall
Elijah describes himself as silly and happy. He is a mischievous, fun-loving kid who enjoys reading, video games and playing D&D. He is a math wiz who loves numbers, statistics, and dice. He spends much of his time playing with his big brother and his two little sisters. His favorite food is cheese pizza and he eats as much of it that he can get his hands on.
Mary Ilkhomjonova
She is a 7-year-old girl who is very intelligent. We noticed issues with her left hand and I took her to the ER. After an MRI, she was diagnosed with a large brain tumor. She went through brain surgery already and the tumor was removed partially. Currently, she is undergoing chemo.
Kelsee Wesselius
Kelsee is a bright and promising leader in her community. At 18, she has committed the past 4 years of her life devoting time
being a part of the FCCLA chapter at her school. For the past two years, Kelsee has taken on a leadership role in FFCLA and has served as Vice-President. Starting at a young age, science has always sparked an interest in Kelsee's mind. In the fall, Kelsee plans to further her love for science at Saint Martin's University where she will study genetics and gene therapy. Kelsee devotes her time to being a cat mom, a girlfriend, and most importantly, a leader. Despite her diagnosis, Kelsee remains positive and bright in a world that can be quite dark. Kelsee has always been one to look up to; her positive outlook on life is what encourages those around her to keep pushing. As she frequently reminds others, "You grow through what you go through."
Bradley Lawson
Bradley Lawson is the most caring, thoughtful, and smart 6-year boy that you will ever meet. On November 6, 2019,
our Bradley was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). The prognosis is good, but the road ahead will be long for our sweet little boy. He has been a champ with all of the chemo treatments, hospital stays, clinic trips, and medications that he has had to endure.He understands what and why we are doing all of the things that we need to do in order to beat cancer! Bradley loves to play video games, off-road racing, playing sports (before the fatigue from the leukemia set in), building Legos, and most of all being with our family. Most of our family is in Washington, but we have a lot of family also in California. He cannot wait to be able to fly to see his uncles, aunts,and cousins! He also loves his sweet dog, Cali, who is always watching out for him. Most of all, he loves his little 9-month brother, Owen. He always wants to play, hug, and help take care of him. Bradley has the biggest heart & he continues to amaze us everyday. We always knew that he was going to change the world and make it a better place. He has done that by bringing us all together in our battle to beat his leukemia. #TeamBradleyDude all the way!
Sadie Sheldon
Sadie Marie Sheldon arrived 10 days early on August 7th, 2015. She joined our family as the easiest, happiest baby.
Her sister Stella has since become her best friend and a little Mother to her! As she grew, we learned all about her spunky personality. She is so smart,independent, kind and very stubborn! Sadie became a big sister to Scarlett last year, and has become so wonderful about teaching and guiding her.Soon after her little sister's arrival, Sadie started attending Harbour Pointe Montessori School! She blossomed and learned so much over the school year. At the end of April, she was playing at her Nanna and Poppy's house climbing up a little tree. She fell directly on her head but was fine soon after. A week later, we felt like she might have a concussion, so we took her to urgent care. They said she did have a slight concussion and not to worry. As her symptoms continued to worsen, we took her to our doctor twice. Both quick neurological tests showed she was fine. Sadie continued to get worse over the next couple of weeks; headaches, dizziness, and tiredness soon to be apparent to even her teachers. After getting a call from school in mid-June, I took her to the ER at our local hospital. They said it would be too traumatic to give her an MRI and to take her to the children's hospital if she threw up or had light/sound sensitivity. We were told she had Post-Concussion Syndrome, and they scheduled us on July 8th in Children's Hospital Concussion Clinic. A week before on July 4th, things took a turn for the worst. Sadie threw up first and a few hours later the light and sound sensitivity surfaced. She continued to complain that the inside of her head hurt. I decided to head to Seattle Children's Hospital to demand answers. After a CT scan, they found a tumor the size of a golf ball, sitting on her brain stem. It had been blocking the flow of spinal fluid draining, causing all of her symptoms. They assembled a team of neurologists and within a couple of hours, she was in surgery for emergency EVD placement. Four days later she had a full tumor resection surgery. They successfully removed all of the tumor. A week later it was confirmed to be Medulloblastoma. Over the next month, many procedures have taken place. Sadie ended up having the EVD drain shut off, failed, and then passed and removed. She ended up not needing a shunt. Before round one of chemo, she had power Hickman Port placed and within a week needed an NG tube because she was unable to eat or take oral meds. We will undergo five more rounds of chemo and possible radiation.At this time is considered Mo meaning it hasn't spread outside the brain.
Paxton Browning
Paxton is 3 years old and began his pediatric cancer fight with stage 4, Embryonal Rhabdomyosarcoma in May 2019.
He lives in Renton, WA and has two Labrador dogs and a tortoise-shell cat. He also has Fragile X syndrome and autism,so he has to work hard to learn all sorts of new things. He is responding well to treatment and has surpassed BIG milestones of his surgical tumor removal and radiation.He still has many months ahead to finish chemotherapy to beat ERMS. His journey has been really tough at times, but he is very strong and brave! When he is not fighting cancer, he loves to watch Octonauts, go on stroller rides, help his Mommy cook and garden, swing outside, dance to music and play with his big brother and sister. His family is proud of everything he's accomplished so far and is with him every step of the way! Thank you for your support Footprints of Fight!
Brooklyn Acosta
This is Brooklyn Grace Acosta. She is 10-years-old and in 4th grade. Brooklyn was diagnosed with High-Risk B Cell Acute
Lymphoblastic Leukemia on November 24th, 2019.She hasn't le this diagnosis change the way she looks at life. Whether it's chemo infusion day or a trip to the mall, Brooklyn alwayshas a smile on her face.She has always loved, and lived life to its fullest! I often say those pink glasses of hers have special powers, and I wish everyone saw the world as Brooklyn does. Brooklyn enjoys singing, dancing, art, and fashion.
Julia Nicholson
Julia is a 15-year-old girl with the biggest heart ever. She is quick, smart, funny and has a smile that lights up a room.
She loves to sing, read, draw, ride the horses at her grandparent's ranch, and play sports. Last year, she was the only girl on the boys wrestling team. She worked hard to learn this new sport and did a great job. She's been dealt a rough hand, but she is conquering this battle with a giant smile on her face. She is the bravest person I know.
Bryce VanWye
Bryce is a three-year-old fun, goofy, wild child who loves to make people laugh, especially his older sister Riley.
On February 1, 2020, we took our son in for a very minor steroid inhaler treatment, something we, unfortunately,have to do every year. While there, they took an X-ray of his chest to see if there was anything else going on and noticed a large mass in his chest crashing his airway and heart. From there we were taken to Mary Bridge. After what seemed to be a million tests, we were told that it has spread to his bone marrow and spinal cord.Our final diagnosis was ALL, Acute Lymphoblastic Lymphoma and Leukemia. This is going to be a very long journey for our Bryce monster as there are many types of chemo treatments and extensive testing. Along with the chemo regimen for the lymphoma, we are having to add lumbar chemo, bone marrow checks, and radiation treatment for his brain, as it has spread very quickly in such a short amount of time. We are one month into a three to five-year plan and this strong and brave boy is fighting to kick this thing's “booty” as he likes to call it. Thankfully, Bryce has been able to come home which has been a huge morale boost. While at home he is getting to sleep in his own bed (until he sneaks into Mom's and the middle of the night), playing with his own toys, and being with his sister. While he still gets tired often, his spurts of energy take us back to what feels like normal crazy life. Even though our journey has just begun, Bryce has not lost his personality or ability to smile. We are all taking it day-by-day and fighting to be brave like Bryce.
Emily Hood
Emily is a swimmer and a founding member of her high school's first girls wrestling team. 
After what was originally thought to be a concession, Emily was diagnosed with a rare,inoperable brain tumor called DIPG. She spends her time between school, wrestling practice,
and chemotherapy. She is the epitome of a warrior as she lives each day with strength, joy, faith, and perseverance.
Ross Tello
Ross Tello is our own personal superhero who makes you smile or laugh every day. 
If he has met you once, he will remember your name and birthdate if you share it with him! Ross has a very special and unique bond with all of his friends and deep love and appreciation for his family. He is 6'6'' and a proud student and defensive line football player of Peninsula High School in Gig Harbor, WA. Three weeks prior to Ross' 18th birthday, they found a mass on his liver. Within one week, he was admitted to Seattle Children's Hospital where Ross was diagnosed with a very rare cancer commonly found in teenage boys. There are reported to be 200 cases worldwide. Fortunately, the gifted team of doctors at Seattle Children's has treated this rare cancer. Ross' treatment is extensive and will run over a 9-month time frame. He and his family are very grateful for the care they receive at Seattle Children's and the assistance of incredible organizations such as Footprints of Fight. Our life turned upside down in a matter of days with no time to plan or adjust. Our hope in others and how many caring people there are in the world has opened our eyes and has humbled us and made us forever grateful. In a very challenging time, we find love and appreciation for each other and all the special people that support us and other families going through such tough times. It is really important to have such support and assistance, it's nice to know people really care and it truly makes a difference.
Hayden Jimenez
Hayden is the baby of the family with a 7-year-old older brother named Kyler.
Hayden and his family live in Union, WA. When it isn't raining he loves to be outside. He enjoys driving his power wheeled truck around the yard, exploring, or riding his tricycle down the hill to see how fast he can go. He looks forward to the summer when he can go camping and swimming in the pool. This fall, he is excited to be attending preschool at the same school as his big brother!
Kymber Johnson
Kymber had injured her knee and was taken to have it looked at. It was then that we found out that she had a tumor on her knee. We
weretold to pack for 3-6 months and head to Seattle Children's Hospital. After 2 full days of appointments, we found out that she had a bone tumor called Osteosarcoma which is a type of cancer. She soon started chemo and eventually lost her hair. Anyone who knows Kymber knows that she is such a sweet and kind little girl with a giant heart who always looks out for everyone else. She is strong and will get through this!
Maggie Hayes
Maggie is a sophomore at Bothell High School. She plays club soccer for Northshore Soccer Club on the '04 Dash. She runs Cross Country and Track and is very active in her school. During fall 2019, she began having headaches and dizzy a lot of the time. After tests a the doctor's office, they could not find anything wrong with her but we insisted on an MRI. She was diagnosed with Medulloblastoma, a form of childhood brain cancer that normally affects small children. Three days later she had a successful brain surgery to remove her 5cm tumor at Harborview. Amazingly, only two days after, she was at home recuperating. She is now undergoing proton radiation treatments 5 days a week for 6 weeks and weekly chemo infusions to make sure the tumor does not grow back. Once she finishes her radiation treatment she will spend the better part of a year on chemotherapy. She is very positive and up for the task. Go Maggie!
Alondra Joya
Hi, my name is Alondra Joya and I am 4 years old and was diagnosed with very high-risk B cell leukemia. I have two and a half years of very long intense treatment. Currently, I am on six different chemos. I have two big brothers and I like the color pink. Since I got sick, my Mommy had to quit her job so she could take care of me and my brothers. My family would greatly appreciate everyone's help and support.
Kalie Weible
Kalie is 12 years old and has a love for horses and crafts. Kalie loves school and hanging out with her friends. She is warmhearted, free-spirited and beats to her own drum.She wears her heart on her sleeve and still thinks about other people even though she is sick. She loves her family most of all.
Karla Espinoza
My name is Karla Espinoza and I am 15 years old. I am the middle child out of 4 kids and have a German Sheperd dog that is 1 1/2 years old. I am a sophomore at Washington High School taking AP classes. The sports I like to play are tennis and cheer, but due to my medical conditions this year, I won't be able to cheer. In my free time, I like to be with family and listen to music. Some of my favorite artists that I enjoy listening to are the Jonas Brothers, Shawn Mendes, and Romeo Santos.
Aiden Cervantes
Aiden was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia on April 27th of 2019. It caught the family off guard but the doctors and nurses at Mary Bridge Children's Hospital in Tacoma have been working hard to keep him as healthy as possible. He is a fun loving, little boy that loves to play and jump around. So far, we won't find out until the end of the month if he reached remission. If not, he is on the waiting list for a bone marrow transplant but we're hoping for the best.
Sandra Gomez
Sandra is 4 years old diagnosed with a malignant kidney tumor on her right kidney. She recently had her kidney removed and she also had surgery on her left lung. As soon as she recovers from her last surgery, she will start chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
Nathan Eller
Nathan is 17 years old and is in his senior year of high school. He was diagnosed with T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma on June 19, 2019. He is kind, funny, smart, and has an infectious smile. Nathan is a leader in and out of the classroom as a cross country captain and orchestra concertmaster at his high school. He loves to play his violin, run, work out at the gym, explore new restaurants and foods, and spend time with friends, girlfriend, and brother. Nathan loves God and those around him, and demonstrates incredible faith and courage in the midst of challenge.
Braylon Springer
Braylon Springer is a 6 year old girl from Chehalis, WA. She lives with her mom, dad, and brother Brody! Braylon loves unicorns, rainbows, and the moon. Braylon also loves to ride bikes with her brother. When Braylon was 3 years old she was diagnosed with PPB type 2 (a rare type of lung cancer). After 9 long months of chemo she was all done! She got to go back to being a normal kid. She went to preschool and even started kindergarten in September 2018. March 29, 2019 we went in for her 2 year scans and the scan showed that she had a tumor the size of a softball on her lung. It was back again. As her mom, I still can't fathom the pain she has to go through. In April, she had the tumor removed and started chemo quickly. She has about 9 more months of treatment left including chemo and radiation. Braylon is the bravest, strongest princess I know. More than anything, we just ask for prayers. We love our sweet girl!
Leilah Mendoza
Leilah is 6 years old. She was born on March 8, 2013. She was recently diagnosed with (ALL) Leukemia. She loves outdoor time and going to the park. Leilah is one of the most active little girls I know. Before Leilah was diagnosed I could never keep her still. She enjoys arts and crafts as well. One of her most favorite things to do is go swimming. Even though Leilah has been going through a tough time she hasn’t let it affect her so much. She still plays and runs. She also continues to do her arts and crafts when she can. If you meet Leilah is maybe shy at first but once you get to know her she is the most talkative person and is a very curious character. Leilah is a strong little girl and will fight with all she has to beat cancer.
Salvador A. Contreras
Hello my name is Salvador A. Contreras. I am 12 years old. I live with my father, and two siblings in Mattawa Washington , along with my paternal grandparents in their home. I have Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. For that reason we have relocated to Seattle. This way it will be much easier for me to receive medical help to treat my cancer.
Andrew Darnell
Andrew is a 17 years old handsome, kind and smart boy with Latin blood. He is an artist with a great eye to detail. Andrew was diagnosed on April 23 with Stage 4 Hodgkin lymphoma. On May 2, 2019 he had his first round of chemo. The doctors want him to complete 5 rounds in total plus radiation.
Tucker Rodgers
Meet Tucker, our sweet, loving 2.5 year old son. He is such a happy guy (when not on steroids ;-) and he brings us much joy. Ever since his big sister Sydney first made him laugh with her silly antics, Tucker has always been quick to smile and laugh. He loves playing with all sorts of vehicles from trains, to diggers, to cars. He loves and misses his pets: 2 dogs, 3 cats, 20 chickens, and 1 goldfish. He also misses his friends at daycare and routinely asks when he can see them again. On April 4th, Tucker was diagnosed with Pre-B Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. We know this chapter will be very difficult, but we also know his story will ultimately be a long and happy one.
Aubrey Gray
Aubrey is an incredibly smart and loving 2 1/2 year old. She is so very kind and happy! Aubrey loves anything to do with music and animals. She loves to sing and dance! Her favorite animal right now is the elephant. She also loves to be outside and play at the park. She enjoys reading and watching TV and the tablet, when allowed. Her favorite shows are: Puppy Dog Pals, Vampirina, Fancy Nancy, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Paw Patrol, and on youtube, Blippi. Aubrey learns very quickly and enjoys doing so! Her love of family is unparalleled. During treatment for ATRT, she seems invincible and knows no bounds. Regardless of how she is feeling, she is kind and polite to her care team, her "friends." She truly is our rockstar!
Jordi Lafley
Jordi Lafley is our sweet, happy-go-lucky, red-headed, three year old. He loves to go on rainbow walks, where he collects flowers and leaves and things in every color of the rainbow (blue is the hardest to find!). He loves preschool and misses all of his friends. With his big brother, he enjoys racing cars down the stairs. He likes to color and do art projects. Jordi says he wants to be a “bakery” when he grows up. He was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia on May 7th.
Stella Altwies
Stella is 13 years old, and a student at Bright water Waldorf school in Seattle. Stella loves playing Ultimate frisbee, watching movies, and hanging out with her friends. Two of Stella’s favorite places in the world are orcas Island and Hawaii.
Caedmon Lyon
Caedmon, our soon-to-be 10-year old, had been having a week of nausea that just wasn’t quite right. On March 17th, he also began having vision and eye issues. My wife took him to a local urgent care which quickly turned into an ER visit that then snowballed into Caed being airlifted to Seattle Children’s Hospital where he was officially diagnosed with a NGGCT on his pineal gland; simply put, he has a brain cancer.
The oncology team at Children’s has given Caed a good long-term prognosis, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy. The position of the tumor was preventing Caed’s CSF from draining properly which was causing increased pressure inside his brain; he had to undergo brain surgery to relieve this pressure. If that wasn’t enough, he also suffered a collapsed lung as a result of doctors installing his port as well as has had numerous undesirable side effects from the various medications he has been on including a wonderful bout of steroid psychosis! Caed also just finished a lengthy round of antibiotics as he managed to get a staph infection (most likely from his port) just after his second round of Chemo.
Caed has been a champ through this whole ordeal, especially considering that we have the added hurdle of him being on the autism spectrum. As long as he is not nauseous from the Chemo, Caed has been in good spirits and been his normal joking, silly self. We know we’re just at the beginning of a long road, but we know we will make it with all of the love and support we continue to receive from our friends and family.
Liam Bryant
Liam is four years old an avid fan of Hotwheels, Chase off of Paw Patrol and the color orange. Incidentally orange is also the ribbon color for Leukemia, so at least he's glad about that! When not doing hospital things Liam can found playing Nerf guns with his brother, car explosion games with his brother or any other various activities two boys can do side by side. While his brother Jess is at school Liam enjoys some of the same activities with mom and dad. After a busy day he likes to unwind with his favorite artists, Lucas Graham, Imagine Dragons, Judah and the Lion and some new country song about pick-up trucks and back roads.
Since being diagnosed on April 2nd 2019 he's beens much more lethargic, but on his good days you'd never know! One thing is for sure, so far, even with bouts of nausea, this kid can eat! He loves chocolate, yogurt, apples and spiky chicken: aka Crab. He is still in high spirits on most days, but can be a sad grumpy old man during the harder times. "Out of everyone I've fought beside my son is the toughest"
Camia Cortez
Camia was diagnosed March 30,2019 with Group B/C trilateral Retinoblastoma. Not only does she have tumors in her big bright blue eyes, she has one in her brain as well. There is no other way to describe your child being diagnosed with cancer other than the feeling you’re being dragged through Hell and can’t breathe.
She is our sweet content baby. We just knew with all our hearts the pattern would be the same. See, she’s not our first to have this monster. She is our third. We have five children and two are free from the mutated gene. They weren’t back to back cases until we had Auggie and Camia. It has been a humbling three years, and I say that lightly.
Work, finances, marriage, traveling..just living has been a challenge for our family. We thank God for Footprints and those behind it all helping families like ours going against Goliath.
We couldn’t do this without their support. Just like our children can’t fight without us. Most importantly, how none of this could be survivable without God.
Nicole Cargile
This is my daughter Nicole Cargile she is an awesome kid, she does great in school and has so many people who love her, we were getting ready for back surgery on May 14th and blood work done we found out she has leukemia it really devastated all of us but we are staying positive about her treatment at Seattle children’s hospital.
Kiaran McKay
16 years old Diagnosed with hodgkins lymphoma April 2019 Her favorite class in school is intro to mechanics, it has given her the drive to pursue welding and blacksmithing as her career She is also looking for apprenticeships that she can start as soon as chemo ends. The most important thing to Kiaran is family she always chooses to make sure her sisters are included and will enjoy the things she goes and does.
Jackson Judd
Jackson Judd was recently diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. He is a beaming 7 year old who loves outdoor activities, sports, Xbox and movies. His favorite activity is going to the ocean and playing on the beach with his 14 year old sister and his twin brother. Jack is getting his treatment through Children’s Hospital where the staff has been amazing. Jack and his family have an Army of supporters helping him crush Cancer! #jacksarmy
Jonathan Kressin
We’d like to introduce our son, Jonathan. On March 7, 2019, just four days before his first birthday, he was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. The previous morning he had been taken in for his 1-year doctor visit and, after speaking with the pediatrician about some bruising and petechiae, she decided to run a few blood tests. We received a call around 10 p.m. telling us the test results and urging us to quickly get him to Seattle Children’s Hospital. The next 48 hours were a whirlwind of doctors, tests, information and a general sense of “is this REALLY happening?” We’re thankful it was caught early and they started a treatment regimen right away.
We’re happy to report after 30 days his bone marrow and spinal fluid have both come back negative for cancer cells and we’re moving on to the next phase of his treatment. He will have to stay close to Seattle Children’s Hospital for about 9 months of various rounds of chemotherapy drugs (as long as he doesn’t get an infection); however, he’s our little warrior and we’re so proud of how much his body is fighting!! We are very thankful for the love and support we’ve been receiving through this entire process.
Savannah Trujillo
Although Savannah has only been a part of our family for a short 2 months, we have been anticipating her arrival for years. We had wanted to add to our family and after 5 years of trying we were able to have the perfect girl! It was a complete shock when she was born with a large tumor in her eye cavity. None of it was detected on any ultrasound we had gotten and all of our blood work was normal. Through her diagnosis and chemo Savannah has kept us all smiling with her ability to bounce back, and her love of the ceiling fan. Savannah is so loved by so many people and we are so lucky to call her our daughter.
Dhruv Kumar
Dhruv is an amazing 6 year old boy. He is very creative and loves to play a lot with LEGO, make own creation using cardboard and household stuff. He is excellent in math, art and science. He goes in kindergarten and loves to read all science stuff. He is very talkative and keep everyone around him engaged. Every hospital staff are in love with our boy. He was diagnosed with Cancer on March 20th 2019 and getting treatment in Seattle Children's hospital. Here the treatment is good and they have excellent team for the treatment. Praying for quick recovery of our brave boy.
Leilani Griffin-Byrd
Leilani Griffin-Byrd was born on April 18, 2012, in Tacoma, Washington. She will be seven years old. Her father is Danyo Griffin-Byrd, and her mother is Preyanuch Kerdtes. Leilani is a kind-hearted 6-year-old that loves to bake, read, solve math problems, draw, animals, explore nature, laugh, smile, and spend time with her family and friends. Some of her favorite foods are pasta, pizza, and pho. Leilani will be a big sister to a little brother in a few weeks. She’s always wanted to have a sibling to talk and play with at home and she can’t wait for the arrival of her baby brother.
Angelia Garland
Angelina is a beautiful, amazing and awesome kid. She's usually shy at first but once she gets to know people she's funny, outgoing, and has a huge heart. During her free time she enjoys arts and crafts, fashion and makeup. She was diagnosed with Eywing Sarcoma at the age of nine, and went through expensive treatment that consisted of chemotherapy and 8 weeks of radiation. The cancer came back in the same location after 4 years and she's currently back in treatment receiving chemotherapy every three weeks at MaryBridge Children's Hospital.
Kadence Yem
Between the months of October 2018 to January 2019, she started having week long fevers off and on. The fevers continued and eventually turning into bad stomach aches, she would say “my stomach hurts really bad” at times. Finally, we took her in to the emergency room where she received the most unimaginable diagnosis possible. On February 3rd, 2019, Kadence was diagnosed with Leukemia and on February 4th, a day later, we received a final diagnosis which confirmed that she had Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), which was the best possible diagnosis in the children leukemia category as it currently has the highest remission rate. Kadence has completed her first phase of Chemotherapy at Mary Bridge Hospital and Mary Bridge Hematology/Oncology clinic in Tacoma, WA and has begun her second phase of treatment. Her care team can be described as Godsent, they have been nothing short of amazing.
Melanie Trigueros Landa
My name is Melanie Trigueros, I am 16 years old. I was diagnosed with leukemia a month and a half ago, I am an honor roll student at the Toppenish High School.
Eleanor Gardner
Eleanor Rose is a smart, funny and kind and 2.5 year old. She loves her family, playing kitchen and Minnie Mouse. In November of 2018 she was diagnosed with high risk neuroblastoma. So far in treatment Ellie has been through three rounds of chemotherapy, surgery, blood transfusions and a stem-cell harvest. Treatment plans will soon have Ellie facing another intense surgery to have the main tumor removed. Through Footprints of Fight it is more possible for Eleanor’s mom and dad to stay with her through this all. It means so much to a family to receive help so that we can put or best foot forward to win the fight against childhood cancer!
Janet Esquivel
I am Janet and I am 17 years old and I'm currently staying in Seattle, which is 3-4 hours from my home. I live in Mabton. I'm staying in Seattle because of the current health problem that I have. I'm receiving different treatments to help cure my current health problem, but I'm probably going to be staying here for 2 more months if everything goes as planned. Currently, I am not going to school but I am receiving homework from my teachers.
Joseph Hibler/McCurdy
Joseph was diagnosed with VHR Acute Lymphoblastic leukemia at 8 years old in August 2014. Joe was dealt a few blows early on with an appendix rupture, a stroke, and an allergic reaction to one of his chemotherapy medications. However he responded well to the medications and recovered well. Joseph finally finished his 3.5 year chemotherapy treatment plan in December 2017. For 10 months Joseph was getting stronger and finally feeling like a normal kid again. Unfortunately in October 2018 now 12, Joseph relapsed. Several weeks into his inpatient treatment stay, due to having no immune system he contracted a rare fungal infection and went septic. For a few weeks it was touch and go and we were all unsure if he would make it and if he did what that would look like. However Joseph fought off the fungal infection and is fighting to improve everyday. Joseph is still in the PICU but he is alert, smiling, and even working on sitting and standing. We know we have many more hurdles to cross but he is fighting and improving daily.
Avery Valentin
Avery Liam, our handsome boy, was born 4 years ago on September 3rd, 2014. Since birth, he’s been an incredible and practically endless source of smiles and laughter to those around him. He is incredibly bright and enjoys learning (especially about various dinosaur species), playing with his big sister, Zoee, and playing video games (he’s a huge Mario and Sonic fan). On January 8th, 2019, Avery was diagnosed with an advanced cancer. A few days later, pathology confirmed that he had an extremely rare form of pancreatic cancer, pancreatoblastoma. His cancer, though detected “early”, had already metastasized to his liver and various lymph nodes throughout his abdomen and near his lungs. He’s currently undergoing chemotherapy both with the support of the wonderful staff at Seattle Children’s Hospital and his incredibly loving family. He’s been a resilient trooper through his recovery thus far. He’s been able to continue doing the things he loves most and spent a lot of quality time with his family. During this difficult time, Avery has attempted to carry on like he’s done throughout his life thus far—smiling and providing joy to those around him. We believe Avery’s will to succeed will see him through this difficult journey and we pray for an expeditious recovery!
Gabriella Perez
We are pleased to announce Gabriella Perez, our latest FoFighter! Welcome, Gabriella to the Footprints Family!
Olive Ray Magnolia
Olive Magnolia Ray was diagnosed with an Optic Glioma right before her second birthday. She went through a year of chemotherapy, and was able to stop treatment just after her third birthday. For the next two years, the brain tumor was stable. Late in 2018, it started to grow again. In October, she started another year of treatment. It's possible that she'll continue with treatment off and on until she is in her early 20's. Olive is a tough lady, and knows what she loves. She loves green olives (shocker), pickles, salami, pepperoni, bacon sausage and eggs. She loves the doctors and nurses at Seattle Children's Hospital, and they love her. Even when not in treatment, she loves visiting the Oncology floor during her MRI's to spread her cheerful and brave smile.
Jose Sandoval
My name Is José Sandoval I like to play Xbox with Friends, I like to longboard, I love food ( only my mom’s cooking ) and I like to spend time with family.
Damien Morris
This is Damien, he was diagnosed with leukemia 11/6/18 after a sports physical and some bloodwork he was very active he loves science he misses school and his friends and a few teachers. Damien was very outgoing and now he is a shell of who he was we are just getting into the swing of this new journey for us and appreciate footprints of fight for taking some of the burden of everyday life and expenses off my shoulders .Thank you
Inessa Sokirkin
Inessa likes to paint, swim, play with dolls, to knit, ride a bike, math, play with cats, and travel. Thank you!
Maceo Garcia
Please meet our beautiful son, Maceo Garcia. He was diagnosed on July 19, 2018 with Pre-B Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. He is currently being treated at Seattle Children’s Hospital. He is 4 years old and full of life! Maceo loves Godzilla, all things Dinosaur and playing with his sisters. He loves animals so much that one day he wants to be a zookeeper. He is the strongest and bravest boy we know and his smile can light up any room. We are very blessed to have such an amazing family and friend support team behind us. The love and energy they share with our family is amazing and we are so grateful. We are also so very grateful for all of you at Footprints of Fight. Thank you for your time and all you do for so many. You are appreciated. Thank you in advance.
Anthony Hernandez Jr.
Anthony Hernandez Jr. is 3 years old and was diagnosed with Acute lymphoblastic leukemia on November 29, 2018. All of a sudden he was very pale, taking long naps then vomiting, we knew something was wrong. The medical team at Mary Bridge Childrens Hospital did an awesome job, the time Jr was there. He’s the only boy and has 3 sisters. He’s a very active tough boy and is currently getting chemo every week projected for the next 2 and a half years.
Elizabeth Oreilano Lopez
Elizabeth loves playing with dolls, drawing and her favorite color is purple! Elizabeth was diagnosed with ALL (Leukemia) back in October. The doctors anticipate a few more years of chemo but we are proud to announce she is currently in complete remission. There are still a lot of hard days but we are finally starting to see her energy come back! She is laughing and playing with her siblings again. We are so thankful. We love Seattle Children’s! Elizabeth always looks for a nurse named Hannah when we are there. Hannah cared for her during her port surgery and she remembers her compassion. We look forward to being a FOF family.
Jackson Kinnaman
Jackson was born October 17th, 2010 and received his Hodgkin's Lymphoma diagnosis a day before his 8th birthday this year. If you were to meet Jackson, you'd instantly fall in love with him. His smile, his laugh, his generosity and caring personality. He is one amazing little dude! Jackson is an only child and his best friend since preschool is Bryce. He loves playing with his friends, dancing, back rubs, the weather channel (future meteorologist, perhaps?), the solar system, nascar races, monster trucks and his kitty Astrid!
Westyn Warburton
This is Westyn and he is the second born to twin fraternal brother Wyatt. They were born September 18, 2017. Happy and healthy boys, they went home two days later. Shortly after his first birthday a large mass in his abdomen started to appear. On November 4th, 2018 Westyn was diagnosed with stage 3 Kidney cancer and a favorable Wilms tumor. The tumor and left kidney were removed, followed up by chemotherapy and radiation. Westyn will continue treatment till mid 2019. He still runs around with his brother and lets nothing hold him back.
Verena Miller
She was riding her horse and we thought everything was fine the week of her diagnosis in early August. On August 10, 2018 our lives changed. But God is with us and she is being healed day by day. We are thankful for all the support that many people have been giving us helping us through this. Thank you so much. And a hearty thank you from Verena.
Evelyn Loney
Evelyn Elizabeth Loney was born at 36 weeks, considered "early term" by the delivery nurses at Evergreen Hospital, and needed extra time in the NICU to help regulate her blood sugar. Angela, her mother, has a history of cancer, having survived Retinoblastoma at 16 months old. They learned the devastating news that Evelyn already had small growths in both of her eyes, indicating possible bilateral Retinoblastoma. They were told that Evelyn would need to come in for a full eye exam under anesthesia in order to get a full diagnosis. At this appointment, it was confirmed that Evelyn has Retinoblastoma and that she will be undergoing chemotherapy treatment. The tumors are both very small and will likely respond well to chemotherapy but are both on the center of Evelyn's vision which means she will likely have some vision loss. Chemo and treatment has continued over the last 4 months with good progress made in beating the tumors, but the fight continues. Evelyn is an amazing fighter, and constantly amazes the doctors and nurses with her resiliency.
Fatima Tellez Avendano
Hello my name is Fatima Tellez Avendaño, i am 12 years old. Just getting out of 6th grade i was diagnosed with AML leukemia. I really liked playing outdoors with my family and friends and i liked doing karate. I really liked to learn in school, my favorite subject is math, i was an A student.
Nathaniel Freeman
Nathaniel is a sweet and kind 14 year old young man. He is going to be turning 15 on Nov 29. one year closer to being able to drive! Every parent dreads that year lol. He is 1 of 6 boys, he has 4 older brothers and one younger brother. He is always the brother that never takes sides and is the defends everyone. He is kind and loving, always thinking and putting others before him. He loves to camp, ride bikes and dirt bikes, and thrift store shop with his family. He LOVES hamburgers! If he could eat them everyday 3 times a day he would. Nathaniel is an absolute blessing and one of the best kiddos his Mom and I could ever be blessed with.
Liam Brown
Liam was diagnosed with Metastatic Ewings Sarcoma at 19 months old. He endured 10 months or surgery, intense chemotherapy, and radiation. Throughout that entire time, even on his lowest day, he brought light to lives of everyone he came in contact with. He is the happiest boy I know. Liam had a beautiful and fun filled 3 months celebratingthe end of treatment with hopes his cancer stayed in remission. Unfortunately at his 3 month post treatment scans we found his tumor had returned. We started treatment up right away, and although it's tough, Liam has proven to be tougher. His smile and bubbly personality hasn't faltered. He loves his cousins, and his dogs. Cant get enough of his favorite cartoons, and wont hesitate to speak his mind. Hes just an average 3 year old, in a place where no child should be.
Regina Jimenez
I like to color, watch tv, play with my friends and play with dolls. Since January 11th, my life has changed a little bit. Now I have to focus more on my health and wellness. I love my mommy; she takes care of me and protects me.
Anthony Unpimgco
Anthony, or AJ as we know him, is 17 years old and is entering his senior year of high school. He was diagnosed with Stage 2 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma on July 26, 2018. He is being treated by the wonderful medical team at Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital. He is the oldest of five children to Lewis and Naitasha Nauta. He enjoys music and art. Some of his favorite hobbies are playing his ukulele, drawing, and hanging out with his many friends and girlfriend. Many say he is the most respectful kid you will meet. He is kind and responsible, and always looking out for the safety and well-being of his siblings. He is a humble kid, not wanting any extra attention due to his condition. He just wants to win this fight, and dreams to attend Portland State University next Fall.
Parker Smith
Parker is a 15 year old Sophomore who attends Anacortes High school. He enjoys playing football and wrestling. He likes to go camping with his family, going biking with his friends, and playing Xbox. He has a total of 6 siblings!
Andromeda Cronin
Andromeda was diagnosed with Pre B High Risk Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia on April 20th. I noticed she had a few tiny red and purple spots and I turned to Google. Petechiae seemed a perfect match and came with the warning to get to a doctor asap. So I scheduled an appointment with her pediatrician the next day. He was short on time and said it was likely a staph infection then prescribed a topical ointment. My gut told me something wasn’t right. Within days she was exhausted, having nose bleeds, and on Friday ran a fever. When I called the pediatrician again, I was told he was on vacation and was told to go to Seattle Children’s urgent care. Treatment is difficult and she has suffered hiccups and setbacks. She is three years old, her spirit is wild, and this experience brings to the forefront the extremes of the emotional spectrum we endure.
Lucas Bride
Lucas turned five on July 19th. We noticed a very slight change in his balance a little after the 4th of July and took him into his pediatrician. They did not find anything wrong with him and sent us home so we really thought nothing of it. A couple weeks later he was complaining of headaches so we took him back and again nothing was found. We were in Cle Elum for a weekend the first of August and noticed him hardly able to walk a straight line so we took him to Mary Bridge hospital where they did a CT scan and found a Medulloblastoma tumor. They removed it the following day and we stayed there for 2 weeks. We recently got transferred to Seattle Children's where we are currently doing physical therapy and speech therapy.
Daxton Stanford
Daxton Stanford is 9 years old he has two sisters and two brothers. He lives with his siblings and mom and dad in Spokane, WA. He loves to play with swords, legos, nerf guns, and video games. His most favorite thing to do is to go swimming. He likes Minecraft and LEGO Ninjago. His favorite colors are yellow, orange and blue. He has two pet cats and 11 chickens. He was diagnosed with Medulloblastoma in October of 2018 and is currently in Seattle, WA for treatment.
Cierra Shaffer
Cierra was diagnosis with AML in Nov. 24, 2017 at Boise, Idaho. She spent the next 6 months in the hospital undergoing chemotherapy. Cierra entered remission in June 2018, unfortunately she relapsed in August 2018 . Cierra's only hope for a cure is a non relative donor. Boise was unable to do this kind of transplant so we were relocated to Seattle. Cierra and I are currently at Seattle's Children's Hospital awaiting approval for the much needed Bone Marrow Transplant.
Tavish McCosh
On the last weekend in September, Tavish seemed extra-sleepy. On that Friday evening and Saturday, he began to show small bruises under his skin. On Sunday, Tavish bumped his lip and it was hard to stop the bleeding. The next day, the first day of October, his parents, Charles and Maren, took him to see the pediatrician. They were told to pack a bag and take Tavish immediately to Seattle Children’s Hospital.
In the early hours of Tuesday, October 2, Tavish was diagnosed with high-risk Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia—a cancer of the early blood-forming cells. He then received an additional diagnosis of Mixed-Lineage Leukemia—a particularly difficult-to-treat form of the condition. His doctors have started a course of treatment that will keep Tavish and his parents at or near to Children’s until next summer.
Tavish’s sudden symptoms and diagnosis—all in one weekend—have turned our family’s world upside-down. He has been separated from his brother Ewan, age 7, and sister Isla, age 5, who went to live with their grandparents in a nearby town the night Tavish went to the hospital. Tavish has since started his 2nd month of chemo and is responding well to treatment.
Jaymie Rosmaryn
My name is Jaymie Rosmaryn I am 15 years old almost 16 and I'm a sophomore in high school. I have an older sister who is in college and a brother who goes to the same high school as me but is also in running start. In my spare time I'm playing soccer or tennis with some of my closest friends. We all play soccer together on our varsity school soccer team and a rec team. I've recently had to take a break from soccer for medical reasons but hope to be healed and ready for tennis season. I also like to cook with my mom and start practicing tennis with my dad. As a family we like to go camping and tell jokes at the dinner table. I like school and hope to do running start next year like my brother and sister.
Cassie Powell
Cassie was born June 12th 2004. From day one Cassie has been an independent soul with sass and determination. At the age of 6, she was diagnosed with stage 4 Neuroblastoma. Since that time she has had numerous scans, surgeries and treatments, so many in fact that we have lost track of the numbers. Cassie is currently fighting her 3rd relapse and although life is not easy for her, she does her best to not let Cancer slow her down. She is currently a freshman in high school, loves lacrosse, making custom soaps, fishing, swimming and photography. She hopes to someday learn how to play the guitar and plans to become a detective or wildlife game warden. She truly gives the people around her a reason to smile.
Jay Lafratta-Orr
Hi my name is Jay. I am seven years old and I’m in second grade. On the 28th of September I was diagnosed with T-Cell lymphoma. I am fighting this battle with my family and loved ones behind me 100%.
Ilyana Arteaga-Rosas
At 5 and a half months old, Ilyana had been vomiting more than a typical baby. Shayla and Mateo had taken her to her pediatrician where she was diagnosed with acid reflux and chronic colds each time. Ilyana was put on medication to help control the acid reflux. She would take a 6 oz bottle and end up throwing up over half of what she ate. Over a few days she decreased what she would eat and was only taking an ounce at a time throwing that up to the point of where she had to be seen at the emergency room for dehydration. She was sent home with the same diagnosis; acid reflux and chronic cold/ pneumonia. In a weeks span, they were seen 7 times at clinic and 3 times in the emergency room for the same symptoms.
When she was back at the ER, she was about to be released but during a shift change, the oncoming doctor noticed she had weakness in her right arm. The doctor decided to look further and ordered a CT scan. The doctor noticed a tumor that covered a quarter of her brain and said Illyana needed it removed now. The tumor was compressing her brain stem and cerebellum and causing the vomiting and breathing issues.
Baby Illyana was diagnosed with Atypical Teratoid Rhabdoid Tumor (ATRT) a rare type of brain cancer at only six and a half months old. The surgeons were able to resect almost all of the tumor. The cancer had spread to other regions of her brain and with the resection of the tumor it has caused a leptomenigeal spread.
Ilyana has been transferred to Seattle Children’s Hospital to undergo treatment of this rare and aggressive tumor. Her team of neuro oncologists have decided to go with an aggressive approach. She will need to be treated with treatments being given over 4 days every 3 weeks for at least 6 months depending on the outcome with this treatment.
With this type of rare cancer, Ilyana will spend the majority of the time at the hospital. The doctors have informed them they’ll need to be within an hour away from the hospital. Living in Centralia puts them over an hour away.
Shayla and Mateo have a 3 and a half year old son, Mauricio, who they haven’t gotten to see much since Ilyana’s diagnosis. With her still having a virus, Mauricio has been unable to come spend much time at the hospital. Ilyana has fought hard and we know she will continue to fight every day. Please pray for her strength to continue to fight this battle!
Yzabella Del Rosario
Yzabella or “Yzie” is 11 years old and was born on November 29, 2006 in Orange, California. She loves to dance, sing and do arts & crafts. She has a 9 year old sister who she is very close with. Being the eldest, she is the more responsible and takes her older sister role seriously. Yzie loves learning in school and playing with friends. She also enjoys traveling and going to the beach whenever possible. Her favorite food are Italian and Japanese. Having recently relocated to Seattle, she is looking forward to starting 6th grade and making new friends. Unfortunately, this will be delayed until the doctors feel that she healthy enough to go back to school. This is because last June 16, 2017, Yzabella was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma. They found a tumor on her T10-T11 vertebra body. Initially, the tumor was pressing onto the nerves on her spine which made her temporarily lose the ability to walk. Three days after her diagnosis, she started chemotherapy. Thankfully, after the first round of chemotherapy her leg movements started to improve and are continuously improving throughout her treatment also with the help of physical therapy. Her team say treatment would last approximately 8 months which will include proton radiation which is scheduled for mid-September. Her prognosis is good as tumor is localized but it will be a long road ahead for her and her family.
Nehemiah Ascencio
A spunky, sweet eyed, smart, and playful 9 almost 10 month old baby boy. He was diagnosed at 4 months with b cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. He's gotten now 3 rounds of chemo therapy, and fingers crossed is now in remission so we can move forward with a bone marrow transplant. He has truly shown his family and friends what strength is. His sister is his best friend and they have the sweetest relationship. We are so grateful to be in a place where he has a real chance to survive this horrible disease.
Solomon Haufano
In a world where Hope is often lost, Solomon has been that shining light of hope. Since the day he was born he has been a living testimony of HOPE. His dad was about to start chemotherapy and would not be able to have kids anymore, so we made a bold move to hold off his treatment and have one more child. And then we were blessed with Solomon. Fast forward five years later, he was diagnosed with DSRCT in May. The strongest five year old I know who has tackled multiple weeks of aggressive chemo and just finished major surgery to his stomach and now will undergo radiation. And all the while this is happening you still find a way to dance your life away and be the joy in our home everyday. We are about 2/3 through with treatment, but we have knocked down some major mountains in the way. We are blessed to receive amazing treatment at the Seattle Children’s Hospital and know that once Solomon beats this disease, we hope to help others as well and continue to shine a light of hope in a battle that seems unbearable.
Blake Williams
Blake, age 9, is a sweet, silly boy who loves tree kangaroos and all things building, especially Legos. He was diagnosed 2 days before Thanksgiving 2017 with Intermediate Risk Pre T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. He misses being able to garden and camp, which are things forbidden to chemotherapy patients but has taken up cooking this year. He faces his treatment with such bravery and strength. He is such a hero. Blake is looking forward to being able to return to school in 2019 and rejoin his peers. He has to continue chemotherapy treatment and fight until March 27, 2021.
Jovany Hernandez-Valdovines
Edgar Jovany is a four-year-old boy, and he prefers to go by Jovany. Jovany is very friendly and he likes to make new friends. He loves and enjoys spending time with his dog. He loves to dance, and play with friends. He loves his sisters so much; they are everything to him. He is very smart and a quick learner.
Audrey Su'esu'e-Lefono
Audrey is 10 years old, born June 14th, 2008. She is the oldest of our four kids. She loves singing, dancing, all things purple and pink, and is the best older sister to her siblings and cousins. She was first diagnosed with MDS back in 2016 for which she received and bone marrow transplant with her sister as her donor match. This allowed for 2 blessed and beautiful years of health. She relapsed in the beginning of August and is now diagnosed with AML for which she will again need a marrow transplant from God-willing a non-related donor. She is despite everything, so resilient and brave, she has more courage than I ever will. All the beautiful children who have battled and are battling cancer are true warriors!! Audrey is my hero.
Avery Jaques
Avery was diagnosed on June 22 with B cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Prior to her diagnosis she started displaying symptoms in the form of bruises that seemed to appear quickly and take their time to disappear. Avery loves to hang out with her brothers in her free time. Her favorite thing to do is swing or take a bath. She's obsessed with cat and dog videos and absolutely loves My Little Pony. She's also content watching her brothers play video games.
Gracin Casady
Gman is an animal, sports, superhero and fast car loving 3rd grader. He has always been very active either playing soccer or football. He was due to play his first year of baseball this past spring, but unfortunately on March 6, 2018 he was diagnosed with B-Cell ALL Standard Risk. Even with the diagnosis his spirit is not broken. His tenacity and fight simply moved from the field to the hospital rooms, procedure rooms, and really wherever he is to beat this cancer.
He is currently being treated by an incredible team Seattle Children's. Gracin has three years left of treatment and we all know he is going to kick cancers butt and come out on the other side stronger and sweeter.
Ariyana Sanches-Reyes
Ariyana Sanches-Reyes is an adorable five year old from Yakima, WA who has a love of coloring and playing with dolls “especially Barbies” she adds. Ariyana says that she is “really excited, I get to go to school soon” as she will start Kindergarten in the fall if she is able
Her family is very close and includes her three siblings, Alyssia 12, Lexi 7 and Jr. 10 and they are also supported and loved by their Mom, Aunts, Uncles and Grandparents who live nearby. As a family they love to go on camping trips to Boulder Cave, and for a special treat try to come to the Seattle area once a year to see the Woodland Park Zoo, the Aquarium or Wild Waves which Ariyana says is her favorite.
Her mother Maria was raising four kids and juggling two jobs as both a hotel housekeeper and seasonal cherry and cranberry picker when Aryiana began to have eye and facial twitches. She took her to their local clinic in May, and after a few quick tests a whirlwind began. Initially she was sent urgently to Seattle with what the family understood to be a “nerve surgery” but when they arrived the medical team at Seattle Children’s had the scan results, and they learned that Ariyana had a malignant neoplasm of brain stem. “Our whole world changed that day, my daughter had a brain tumor; we were terrified” said Maria.
Ariyana needed immediate treatment so Maria had to leave her jobs to be her full time caregiver in Seattle. After two months of almost daily medical appointments and treatment like radiation and adjusting to living in a hotel, they are excited to be going home next week for a treatment break until the next steps in her plan are decided.
Ariyana is a resilient patient, with a smile that can melt hearts, and a mischievous twinkle in her eye. This summer she has arrived for her daily radiation treatment at the UWMC singing, skipping or chasing a sibling with a giggle.
Kaya Faye Sanders
Kaya Faye Sanders was born on June 22nd, 2013. She is the youngest of 4 and the only girl. She was the sweetest and most pleasant baby ever. She has always been very smart and on the go once she figured out how to crawl. Her favorite color is pink however, she is all boy since she grew up with 3 big brothers. She was always a very healthy child until May of 2017. We were at a wedding in Arizona and an someone noticed that her walk seemed to be off. They asked about her drool and I said she has always done that and since the Dr’s at her check ups didn’t seemed concerned we just thought that eventually she would grow out of it. We took her in for a check up after speaking to this person and Kaya’s new pediatrician sent us over to Children’s right away. She had an appointment with the neurologist on a Monday, MRI on Thursday at that point we knew something was there, then met with the brain tumor team on Friday. Her little world was turned upside down. We decided to do the biopsy, so she was admitted and that was completed on Saturday. Simulated radiation Monday, Tuesday she got the day off, Wednesday she got her port placed, and Thursday she started radiation. All this just being 4 years old and not once did she complain. She has yet to let anything hold her back. She continues to thrive and surprises us everyday with her energy level. She just recently went through her second round of radiation and we pray it works just as long as the first round did. She is such a beautiful kid that loves everyone, and we feel like the world is being robbed. We focus on letting her be a kid. She is now looking forward to starting kindergarten in September.
Julian
Julian is a happy, extremely energetic, intelligent, loving, God fearing, helpful, smart, handsome, lil "BoyMan" or as others call "gentlegiant". He loves going to church and being involved, his favorite is listening to music and playing his drums. He is great at reading and school work,....when he does. He is overall a pleasure to have and be to around. Never ceases to amaze one!
Desmond
Desmond (Dez) was born with Down Syndrome in May 2017. Just a month after his 1st birthday, Dez was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML).
Since the day Dez was born he has been a happy fighter and has overcome many obstacles. He fights with joy and smiles, and most of all with determination. With him every step of the way, are brothers Griffin and Hudson, and his parents, Spencer and Mindy.
Jorge Coy
Jorge Coy is a 9 year old boy who loves his family, movies, cars, and toys . He is also a very outgoing and strong kid. He loves spending time with his sisters, his favorite candy is Reese’s and his favorite tv show is Spongebob. He was first diagnosed in May of 2013 with brain tumors and he did 9 months of chemo and 6-8 weeks of radiation. In April 2018 his tumors have returned he is now receiving chemo.
Drew
This is Drew! She will be 9 months on July 2nd. She is the sweetest laid back baby. On May 18 Drew was diagnosed with 2 low grade gliomas on both her eyes optic nerves. She started chemo on June 8th and will continue for 14 months.
Anjoleah Sprout
Anjoleah Sprout is 13 years old and lives in Puyallup, Washington. Her favorite things to do are hangout with friends and family, skating, dancing, drawing and doing photography. She is a very respectful young lady that treats everyone she meets with kindness. Being diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma has been a trying time for her and our family but she has a great support system and tons of love to get her through this. Anjoleah is a strong girl and will come out the other side with a new appreciation for life, love and those closest to her.
Anna Lujan
Anna is a 12-year-old, intelligent, creative, and outgoing young lady. Since a young age she has a strong interest in anatomy and physiology picking up her mom’s books and looking at pictures and learning about health and the human body. Starting at age 5 she reported to her family she wanted to be a doctor and now has her heart set on being a pediatric cardiovascular surgeon. Anna’s has many interests and passions and a love for people.
Right before spring break March 27, 2018 Anna told her mom she had a bump on her shoulder above her collar bone that was bothering her. She had felt okay, recently just finishing her wrestling season at school and only slightly noticed minor changes a couple pounds and low appetite. Her family worked quickly getting her into the doctors, who also responded fast with a referral to Seattle Children’s. April 18, 2018 she was diagnosed with Stage 4, Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. April 27 started her first round of treatment.
Due to her diagnoses and treatment through Seattle Children’s, Anna had to relocate to be near the hospital and now resides at Ronald McDonalds Home. She misses her home, two dogs, school, friends, and her family being altogether. Her mom and dad who both work take turns spending three days with her, and each Sunday plan to have a day as a family. Anna will miss out on her youth group summer camp and visiting family over the summer that has been part of her annual routine. But, despite the drastic changes in her life she spends most of her days with a positive mood hoping to grow from her journey.
Rachel Whitworth
On January 19th Rachel was admitted to Seattle Children's Hospital when doctors discovered a golf ball sized mass in her cerebellum. After suffering from debilitating migraines for far too long, the cause had finally been discovered. Within a matter of days, Rachel underwent several surgeries, and was diagnosed with Medulloblastoma. She has since completed an aggressive regimen of high dose radiation and is now embarking on the Maintenance phase of treatment for the next 6 months.
Through all of this, Rachel has shown us all how incredibly strong and brave she is.
Rachel is 12 years old and loves animals, math, history, science and adventurous foods. She can't wait for treatment to be over so she can get back to eating her favorite cuisine... sushi.
Carter Gemar
Carter is the sweetest, most polite boy. He is very funny and easy going as well. Carter was diagnosed with Burkitts lymphoma stage 4 after he was taken to the doctor for a swollen tonsil. He is from Helena MT. Where he lives with his mom and dad, Brandi and Keith. Carter also has a little sister that is seven. Her name is Presley. He is in the 5th grade at Jim Darcy elementary in Helena. Carter’s hobbies are soccer, track, and playing basketball. He also enjoys camping, fishing, playing with his dog and video games. While going through treatment at Seattle Children’s Hospital, Carter and his family will have to spend most of their time in Seattle for his chemotherapy treatment. After that he can go home and be a kid again with only having to do some traveling back and forth for checkups. Thanks for everyone’s support during this time of need.
Brisean Robinson
Brisean is 14 years old, in a single parent home with 10 siblings. There are 8 boys and 2 girls, he is very close to them all being the middle child. He is in 9th grade, he likes Science, Math and Art. He was a very active teen playing basketball, riding bikes and running. His hobbies are drawing, music and hanging with his friends. Brisean has been diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, bone cancer and there is a tumor in his right femur. He cannot walk on his right leg as the cancer is 80% in the femur bone. We are unsure that he will be able to keep his leg. We have had different appointments for his biopsy, port in his chest, then his chest xrays and MRI. Before starting his treatment plan it has been a long process. But they had to make sure it hasn’t gone further in his body.
Jamile Ragsdale
When Jamile was six years old her step-father and I noticed her eyes started to drift apart. We took her to get glasses thinking that would help and maybe cut back on television. A few years later our family moved to Washington state for a new start in life. We went for a regular eye exam; upon examination and questioning the doctor thought it was best to get an MRI to see if its external. That was December 2017 and on February 20, 2018 J.J was diagnosed with a low-grade glioma tumor in her brainstem. They cannot surgically remove it so we are currently in treatment. It's been hard and heavy but we know SHE IS GOING TO SURVIVE.
Cecile Snyder
The youngest of five, Cecile has always been a shining star just like all the kids around us. She decided to break our streak of mid-year monthly birthdays by coming into the world a couple of weeks early and sporting an extra chromosome, Down Syndrome. We spent the first few weeks at Valley General then at Mary Bridge till almost a month old. There we rode out the 2001 Nisqually Quake on the 6th floor at Mary Bridge with RSV.
She is a Junior at Tahoma High School and has spent the past years involved in Special Olympics Track, Basketball, Swimming, Bowling and Golf. Loves her time spent with the Jam Club of the Maple Valley Youth Symphony as music is a very important part of her day as she is always dancing, singing and or signing in ASL to all the hip songs of the day. She loves school and is a social butterfly. One of her greatest thrills is being a part of the Tahoma Cheer Sparkles Squad for the past 4 years, and even recruited Coach Mom, as she calls her, for the squad coach.
Now at 18 years old we once again find ourselves at Mary Bridge Children's Hospital battling Leukemia (ALL). While she has always been healthy, she presented no real symptoms till the day of diagnosis. Getting out of the shower she felt dizzy and since she was being a little lazy the last couple of days of Spring Break we figured she had a bug or flu. Took her to Urgent Care to get checked out and after a blood test they asked which hospital we wanted to go to. She started chemo treatments the very next day and our first stay lasted 25 days. After another 14-day stay to start Consolidation, we got out in time, so she was home for her 18th Birthday. And now we wait for re-admittance for the second half of Consolidation. Her body has been responding very well to the treatments with minimal problems handling the chemo. Thankfully her spirits remain good and she draws everyone she meets into her web of happiness.
Thatcher Hamblin
Thatcher Hamblin is the 3rd boy of Brandon and Rachel Hamblin. At 18 months old he was diagnosed with a Stage 3 Wilms Tumor on his right kidney. He now has to go through six months of chemotherapy treatments. Thatcher is a fun and sweet boy, with a great sense of humor. He’s extremely adventurous and curious.
Cael Thuotte
Cael is 20 months old, born with Down Syndrome and a blood disorder that predisposed him to leukemia. He is the youngest of 12, with siblings ranging in age from 26 to 4. He has been hospitalized twice previously for respiratory viruses. He also has a mild, unrepaired heart condition. He is absolutely the most perfect baby. He rarely cries and is always ready with a smile. His favorite toy is people, and he loves pointing, giving fives, clapping with your hand, and playing peek-a-boo. Everyone who meets him falls instantly in love. With the help of the doctors at Seattle Children's, we are hoping to take our son home with us at the end of September cancer free!!
Rowen Kalcso
Rowen has always been an active and curious creature! He has the most magnetic smile and precocious sense of humor that can cure any gloomy mood. Being our family’s “most favorite surprise” with two teenage siblings, he is everyone’s little brother!
On February 23, Rowe was diagnosed with APML RARA. This is an uncommon type of leukemia that presented initially with internal bleeding and severe coagulopathy concerns. This required Rowen to receive many different daily blood and blood product transfusions. Since Rowe’s diagnosis, he has had every unlikely thing arise during his treatment. This ranged from the leukemia sugar coating his spine and meninges, making it difficult for the doctors to treat since they were uncertain of what side of those barriers the cancer lai,d to a very rare reaction in his mandible and at the base of the skull that caused excruciating pain. This mighty little boy has experienced many lumbar puncture procedures and endless MRI/CT scans along with his regular cancer treatments. We were moved from Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital after five weeks up to Seattle Children’s Hospital to biopsy and treat the pain in the jaw. The results from the biopsy came back as new bone growth with unknown origin. No infection or inflammation in the bony specimen has been found. Even with the nation’s most knowledgeable medical team in Hem-Onc, Infectious Disease, Rheumatology, and Radiology, the cause is still a mystery. Rowen is being discussed around many medical teams nationwide. We are awaiting how we should move forward, knowing there is pain and no idea why his body decided to react this way. This induction has been seven weeks of unknowns and the unlikeliest circumstances. Rowen’s treatment will span up to two years of active chemo therapy.
Still our family is full of life and beaming with support of many friends and relatives! With the challenges to get Rowe Baby healthy, we are determined do to so with humor, love, and compassion! Our hope is to get Rowen creating art and scootering in the sunshine as swiftly as possible! We cannot wait to get to the beach!!!
Mustafa Zaidi
Mustafa is a very dear kid and is just 15 months old. He charms people and make friends faster than his other siblings. He likes to play with LEGOs and watch Barney! He used to run very fast ever since he started walking from 10 months onwards. But, unfortunately, due to sudden spinal cord and brain tumors he has not been able to run or walk - which is very painful for our family. We are currently at Seattle Children’s Hospital, where Mustafa is being treated with chemotherapy. We are now moving into the second session of chemotherapy. Desperately waiting to see improvements in Mustafa so he can run again and live a happy and healthy life along with other kids.
Kiara Bui
Kiara was born on 08/27/2016. She was diagnosed with Atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor (ATRT) in December 2017. She had 5 different surgeries in 2 weeks. She is currently staying in ICU at Seattle Children’s Hospital. She finished her first round of high dose Chemo on 3/7/2018 and just started her second round of chemo on 3/14/2018.
Danica Taylor
Danica was diagnosed with Atypitcal Teratoid Rhabdoid Tumor in November of last year. She’s currently on a nine month chemotherapy plan. Last month, Danica’s family signed a lease on a new place (literally a block away from the Ronald McDonald House). Danica has an older brother and she will be a big sister in May!
Trinity Nevaraz
On January 24, Trinity, a smart, beautiful 12 year old, was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma. Trinity and her mom Wendy relocated from Ephrata to receive treatment at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Trinity is one of six kids and is very much missing her siblings and family while she is here. Before diagnosis, Trinity loved and enjoyed sports like running, cheerleading, gymnastics, and riding a unicycle during gym class at school! She loves the arts, as well, and enjoys water colors, painting, and making slime. While inpatient, Trinity tries to stay busy when she’s feeling good by playing board games with mom and taking art classes at the hospital. So far, Trinity is doing well with treatment but is experiencing side effects like dizziness, nausea, and being tired. She looks forward to being home with her family again! Wendy says that trinity is one tough girl and has been her rock throughout this whole experience giving her strength to deal with all they are going through.
Catherine Level
Catherine is 14 and was diagnosed with AcuteLymphoblasticLeukemia (ALL) in January 2018. Our family is no stranger to childhood cancer—Catherine’s little brother Julian went through the same thing a few years ago and has since fully recovered. Before her diagnosis, Catherine was an avid traveler, most recently to the Philippines last summer to visit family and friends. Catherine enjoys books, music, TV, hanging out with friends, and her iPhone—like most kids her age. Last week, Catherine got a puppy which is helping her cope with the isolation that comes with parts of her treatment. She named him Jasper.
Alondra Gomez-Gomez
Alondra is 13 and was diagnosed with breast cancer October 13, 2017. She has a little sister who lives with Alondra and their mother.
Jedi Minters
Jedi is an amazing two and a half year old little boy. He is full of energy. He loves to play with trucks, cars, and crayons. He knows his alphabet and likes to point out letters wherever we go. Jedi loves watching shows on his iPad, like Paw Patrol and Blaze. Jedi doesn’t seem to know he is sick and reminds us to find time to laugh and play.
Jedi was diagnosed with AML M7 in April of 2017 when he was 18 months old. We were admitted to Mary Bridge Hospital. After one round of chemo he was not in remission, so the recommendation was a bone marrow transplant. After his second round of chemo he achieved remission, and then in September of 2017, after conditioning chemo, he had a bone marrow transplant at Seattle Children’s from an unrelated donor. Jedi struggled quite a bit with skin and stomach GVHD but overall did really well.
Unfortunately about four months post-transplant, we found out Jedi relapsed. He is currently doing chemo monthly in hopes of having a second transplant this fall. We have a long journey ahead of us and our family motto is to “Never Give Up”.
Emmett Cutway
Emmett is from Anchorage, Alaska and is a sweet and happy boy (unless he is hungry). He loves snuggles and minions, his dog Chance and his Big Brother and Sister.
December 16, 2017 Emmett got admitted to Providence Children’s Hospital in Anchorage with a large mass in his abdomen. By the 22nd it was confirmed that it was Stage 3 High Risk Neuroblastoma. He did one round of chemo and January 5th was transported to Seattle Children’s Hospital with his mama. Emmett had a hard time with his breathing because the mass was so big. He since has done 2 more rounds of chemo. His tumor wasn’t responding to treatment, so he just finished his tumor resection last week. He has been in the PICU for almost 2 months. We have a long road ahead of us, but he has kept his very sassy nature and his dimple smile and wink.
Tyson Stollsteimer
Tyson was born in October of 2015. He had always been a healthy little boy who loved to play, loved cars and visiting car shows with his grandpa and going to the park with Mommy and Daddy. He has always been a sweet, gentle and caring little boy who is always offering to give before he gets. He was given a sister in June 2017 and has taken on the role of Big Brother like a champ. He loves his little sister to no end and is always helping mommy and daddy take care of her. In September of this year we found out he had T cell lymphoma after initially being misdiagnosed in June. Tyson is now on a strict and heavy two-year treatment plan which includes lots of chemo days. So far, even though it hasn't been easy, Tyson has been able to stay that sweet little boy we've always known and loved. He is so strong and an inspiration to all of our family. If he can make it through all of these hard days of sickness and chemo and we can all get through anything.
Keegan Bell
Keegan is 7 and was diagnosed with AML (acute myeloid leukemia) on October 9 and immediately admitted to Mary Bridge’s Children’s Hospital. Our energetic, sweet girl has been exceptionally brave throughout this massive challenge.
She hasn’t left the hospital in over a month and despite all the side effects of chemo and missing her friends she’s still smiling. We are so proud of her!
Jocelyn Leon
Jocelyn is a happy young girl from Wenatchee, Washington who loves drawing, riding her bike, and playing with her brother. In December, 2017, she was diagnosed with childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and is undergoing chemotherapy. Her family has been given an approximate treatment time of two and a half years. Jocelyn's mother and 11 year old brother Jonathon have relocated to Seattle to be with Jocelyn while she is in treatment.
Orlando Lescas
Orlando born 11/30/2008. He found out he had leukemia in August 2017. It was harder for him in the beginning, sometimes it still is when he is getting chemo. Chemo really makes him sick and tired. He has ups and downs. We found out in November Orlando doesn’t have any more leukemia cells but he’s still getting treatment to make sure nothing is hiding. He will be staying in Seattle for hopefully four more months.
Aurora Thayse
Aurora is a spunky 2 year old born in June of 2015 at Valley Medical Center. She loves playing with her older sister Noelle and lives in Orting, WA with her mom and dad, Charlene and Nick. Aurora loves camping, playing outside, and swinging at the park. Aurora went into Seattle Children’s Hospital in December after receiving a call from the pediatrician’s office that she was highly anemic. Aurora was officially diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia on Christmas Eve. The current treatment plan is five rounds of intensive chemotherapy spanning over six months, most of which will be spent inpatient at Seattle Children’s. Aurora will not be able to return home until she is cured, she will have to stay close to the hospital. Therefore, Charlene and Nick will stay by her side, putting their family owned business on hold. If Leukemia is still present in the bone marrow after the first found, then the treatment plan will most likely include radiation and a bone marrow transplant. Your prayers and support are so greatly appreciated.
Gage Jonason
Gage was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma in November of 2017 at Mary Bridge Hospital in Tacoma Washington. Gage is currently under treatment at Seattle Children’s Hospital, he is scheduled to undergo surgery on March 2, 2018 to remove his cancer. A long recovery period is expected, he is at a Stage 4, considered high risk, his prognosis is good, approximately 70% of children recover at this stage.
Gage is participating in finding a cure, he gives extra blood and endures additional test for researchers who are actively trying to find a cure and advanced treatment options for this form of cancer.
Gage is a real trooper, his big smiles and inquisitive questions await the nurses and doctors assigned to his care. He looks forward to the hospital volunteers, they visit, play, and make him laugh, it’s humbling to see the outpour of support.
Gage is a happy boy, he loves big trucks and can be often found in the hospital gathering items to load his trucks, cotton balls, tangerines, or small cars, he loads his trucks and delivers his load on time, he tells you. Gage spent many days and nights traveling with his dad to work in the passenger of an 18 wheeler asking questions as they traveled, his dad, too, traveled in a big rig with his dad.
Chance Petrone
Chance Kyle Petrone was such a good toddler and is now growing into this young man with a heart of gold. Chance is caring, loving, giving and always ready to help others and comfort anyone in need. He is very loved by all his friends and peers and daily he makes everyone laugh. He is the kind of kid that says “I got everything I need” when we ask him what he wants. He is currently an 11th grade honor student and has played his trombone since fifth grade. He still loves it and plays in marching band and jazz bad. And they play amazinggggg. Chance also enjoys track and tennis. He is an amazing brother to his younger sister Danielle. This cancer came out of nowhere and put his life and plans for college on hold. Treatments are hard painful and very confusing for him and with all of that he is brave holding his tears and making sure that mom is not sad.
We are proud parents and praying for fast recovery as we know this child of ours will bring lots of joy, happiness and help this world be a beautiful one.
Hunter Jones
Hunter is a lover of life and a planner. Since Hunter was small he has talked about how he wants nothing more in this world than to be a father. He counts the number of children he will have, which pets they will own, and has spent a fair amount of time on Zillow finding the perfect house for his future family. He loves to explore new places and see new things. Hunter loves his family, his friends, and playing with his toys…sometimes not in that order.
When we were told January 18, 2017 that Hunter was diagnosed with DIPG, the most horrific of brain tumors, our world crumbled forever. However, despite the diagnosis Hunter continues to inspire us every day. He NEVER complains about his new plight in life or the 6 weeks of radiation that required him to be anesthetized 5 days a week. He didn’t complain when his body started to fail him and he became unable to use his left hand and his left arm and leg became weak 2 months later. He never complains about the trips to Mexico to undergo groundbreaking treatment to try and hold back the tumor…it is just his new normal. He continues to love, laugh, and play with every ounce of strength he has in him.
Hunter’s strength and courage has inspired and changed our family forever. We want to be better, we want to love harder, be kinder, give more, and most importantly make a difference. We have learned in the last 8 months since his diagnosis that the only thing that matters is loving and supporting each other and others.
We are deeply saddened to say that Hunter passed away in April 2018. Though the Jones' no longer receive our services, they are forever part of our Fighter Family.
Amethyst Rose Bulette
This is my baby girl Amethyst Rose. She was born on a cold wet morning. At 4:46 am we met our sweet baby girl. She was born in her caul, destined to be super special from the very start, it is folklore that says to be born in your caul you'll be a great healer and never drowned. Amethyst has a big sister, named Gweniveve, a big brother named Hunter, and a baby sister named Lily. She loves playing with her big siblings and has just decided she will even love on her baby one. Her smile is contagious and her laugh is infectious. She is clever and kind, loves to learn new words, solve puzzles, and color with all of us. She loves music, and no day is complete without at least 15 good books read. She is the light of the table for every meal and loves to help me in the pantry with finding great ideas to feed the family.
Ka'Nyah Webb
Ka'Nyah Webb was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma cancer on December 28, 2018 and had surgery the following day. Ka'Nyah is currently undergoing chemotherapy every third week of the month.
Through all of this Ka'Nyah is a very happy and high spirited little girl, always saying Hi, Bye, & No to everyone along with all the other words that Ka'Nyah can say.
Ka'Nyah is a strong little individual angel and I know through the grace and mercy from God and prayers from family and friends we will pull through this successfully for the next 18 months.
Kaylee Rankin
This amazingly strong young lady is Kaylee. She is twelve years old, enjoys going to school and works hard to get good grades. Kaylee loves animals and being goofy with her friends. She is passionate about playing soccer and loves her MVP Marauders team; her favorite position is midfield.
On December 11, 2017, we took Kaylee to her pediatrician for a cough that lingered after a bad cold. We thought she would be prescribed some medicine and head to soccer practice. Instead we were immediately sent to Seattle Children’s where she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. The mass in her chest was so large it was partially blocking her airway. Her medical team was amazed at the stamina and perseverance she demonstrated from playing soccer; only a few days earlier she had been playing for both her middle school and premier teams.
After Kaylee's diagnosis she created this motto for her journey, "Be a Warrior not a Worrier."
Jack Stephenson
Jack is our biggest blessing in life. He enjoys playing board games with his family, running around at the park, riding his bike and he LOVES building Legos! Jack has a sensitive soul and enjoys making friends wherever he goes.
Toward the end of August 2017, Jack started experiencing debilitating leg pains and they would be accompanied by a fever. We thought they were growing pains and visited our local ER to make sure it wasn’t anything serious. They confirmed growing pains, but after this ER visit they started to be present more.
After two weeks of Jack starting Kindergarten we took him to the pediatrician that wanted to diagnose him with hand, foot & mouth and to “watch” the leg pain. I insisted something else was wrong and wanted blood work done.
Jack was diagnosed with Pre-B Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia on September 27, 2017 at the age of 6. He has tackled this battle with warrior strength and an overwhelming desire to just be a kid again. He will begin his next phase of chemo (delayed intensification) on 2/25/18 and his total treatment length is 3 1/2 years to get him cured.
With God on our side & everyone on #TEAMJACK we know he will continue to be brave and fight this battle!
Allison Niska
Allison is a fun and loving 7 year old. She was diagnosed with Medulloblastoma on November 15th, 2017. However, this Cancer does not define her! She loves Minecraft, Legos, Puppies and Horses. She is the oldest of three girls and has two younger step brothers on Dad's side and a younger step sister on Mom's side. Making her the oldest of 6 kids! She is a caring/bossy older sister. She is strong, tough, and makes this treatment look like a breeze most days. She is our family's Hero!
Chaelyn Depoe
Chaelyn is seven years old. She was diagnosed with Whelms tumor on November 29, 2017. She had surgery to remove the tumor on January 17, her chemo treatments are still another 33 weeks long. We are staying at the Ronald McDonald house in Seattle until all her chemo treatments are done. Her brother has been going back-and-forth between staying with us and my mom his grandma.
Kahlel Young
This is my son Kahlel. In this photo he is with his sister Kyra. He returns to Children's Hospital regularly not for himself but to encourage other children battling cancer. He is truly MY angel. I love them all. But Kahlel IS something special.
Ian Tyrrell
Ian loves airplanes and flying with his daddy, as well as getting on the big army vehicles. He wants to be a soldier just like daddy when he grows up. He loves animals especially his dog Juliet. He loves being a big brother and helping his brothers do stuff. His personality is outgoing friendly and just overall a happy kid.
Ian is almost 6 years old, he was diagnosed with medullblastoma on November 10th. They were able to successfully remove the whole tumor but Ian's left side was affected from the removal. He's had to relearn how to balance, walk, use his left hand he's had a positive attitude through all of this. His treatment plan is 15 months of radiation and chemo.
Agustin Cortez
This is our sweet #mancubwarrior Agustin aka Auggie. Just as his name means he is a magnificent boy. The light and love of God has shined through him since the moment he was welcomed into the world. August 2nd, 2016, our sweet boy was diagnosed with Stage 4 group D Bilateral Retinoblastoma. My husband and I left the doctors that day with peace rather than sorrow because we knew wholeheartedly that the Lord had control of what was to come next with our son. With the strength and faith we carried the first several months during our son’s treatment he was miraculously healed! The doctors told us they had never seen such a healing done in anyone with having not only such horrible disease but retinal detachment as well. The cancer had completely left his eyes and his retinas had fully reattached. Sadly, three months later cancer came back. Within a month we found ourselves in a downward spiral. Financially forced to leave our beautiful townhouse and reside 9 months in a 21 square foot RV. It’s crazy now looking back at what we see as the belly of the whale as a humbling experience. Our son is still fighting but has never lost his light. He’s so strong and so inspiring. We pray this battle will be over soon and know that no matter what tomorrow brings God will meet him there.
Tesla Rose
Tess is such a happy little girl, she loves to take naps and even go to bed. Her favorite shows are "Daniel Tiger,” "Tumble Leaf," and " Mr. Roger's neighborhood.” She's always wanting to learn and read books. She truly is the light of our lives.
On November 8th she was diagnosed with T.A.L.L Leukemia, it's so hard to even put into words how incredibly horrible this is...we have just over a two year treatment plan to cure her. She's a fighter and the strongest person I have ever known!
Hunter Rose Jones
Hunter Rose is a beautiful, fun-loving, strong willed little four-year-old girl. She loves playing with dolls, watching Ryan’s Toy Review, opening Hatchimals, coloring, swimming, having tea parties, going to church, and playing with her older brother (Reeder Hix Jones) and cousin (Wesley Canon).
This September, after an epic trip to Disneyland, Hunter Rose Jones was diagnosed with stage four neuroblastoma. By the time Hunter Rose was diagnosed, the disease had spread from the origin tumor in her abdomen to her jaw and hip, but she had never experienced one symptom whatsoever. It was her dentist's (Dr. Harlyn K. Susarla of Stellar Kids Dentistry) meticulous attention to detail that enabled her to see the small tumor on Hunter Rose's jaw during a routine six month checkup. Kara Jones (Hunter Rose's Mom), "we are so thankful for Dr. Harlyn as we believe she just may have saved our daughter's life.”
Ten days after being diagnosed, Hunter Rose began her aggressive chemotherapy treatment at Seattle Children's Hospital under the care of Dr. July Park and Dr. Navin Pinto. Jay (Hunter Rose's Father), "It all happened so fast, but we are so thankful for the amazing team of doctors at Seattle Children's. We are all looking forward to getting back to Disney after Hunter Rose's treatment, only this time her wish is to go on a Disney Cruise.”
Hunter Rose's loving/fighting spirit continues to amaze everyone as she pushes the boundaries by walking every day (now on mile three), checking in on other patients, and requesting to visit her pre-school class after each round of chemo. Hunter Rose is teaching us all how to not allow her circumstances to determine her happiness.
Jovany Hernandez-Valdovines
Edgar Jovany is a four-year-old boy, and he prefers to go by Jovany. Jovany is very friendly and he likes to make new friends. He loves and enjoys spending time with his dog. He loves to dance, and play with friends. He loves his sisters so much; they are everything to him. He is very smart and a quick learner.
Shayden Stackhouse
Hi I’m Shayden Stackhouse, I am 15. I was recently diagnosed with unspecified soft tissue sarcoma. Diagnosis was a long road, but here I am now on my 4th round of chemo and about to be done with radiation. I also threw a dance on Nov. 4th in Tulalip, Wa to help raise funds for childhood cancer research and to help spread the word about childhood cancer.
Marcus Parrish
Marcus is a loving, caring, strong-willed 10-year-old boy. He loves sports, video games, building Legos and playing with his brother and sister. Marcus was diagnosed with Tcell A.L.L. April 18, 2017, a day before his 10 birthday. He was admitted with the 2nd highest white blood cell count they had ever seen (744,000). They told me 2 more days and he would have died. He was immediately rushed to ICU since he was an extreme high risk for stroke and wasn't getting enough oxygen. After lots of procedures, highest doses of chemo they've ever given a child and setbacks, Marcus is progressing along great. He spent 8 days in ICU and a little over a month total in the hospital in the beginning. He just recently finished 1 month straight of every other day leg shots. He's on a powerful 3 year chemo plan. He is such a fighter and always tells everyone he's doing good when he's really not. He's my hero. We have a long journey ahead but he IS a survivor!
Elias Bouchnag
This is Elias, our little 5-year-old who, since the day he was born, has been so energetic and full of joy and laughter that he quickly gained the nickname Sunshine.
After a wonderful family vacation abroad in August 2017 Elias developed diarrhea and a fever and when we took him to the hospital to treat what we thought was a regular stomach flu, the tests came back showing that he had in fact AML.
It was shocking to learn that our boy who has never really been sick and who was so full of joy and energy could have cancer.
Elias started chemo in September and is now going through his second round. We are so amazed by the bravery and positivity that he is able to maintain even in tougher times. Our Sunshine is truly a fighter, and we hope this will help him through his treatment and any challenges that is in store for us down the road.
Jedd Feliciano
Toward the end of track season Jedd began to mention that he was exhausted after practice. His coach even commented that his times were slower than at the onset of the season. He always seemed to rally, so I assumed that it was the heat and being a teenager at the end of his 8th grade year. The beginning of summer was busy and he slept a lot but again we assumed it was because he is a growing boy. Our family went to spend some time at the beach; it was such a whirlwind that his lethargy seemed to be a combination of jet lag and summertime laziness. Unfortunately we began to notice that as Jedd's lethargy increased his appetite decreased. By the afternoon of Tuesday July 25th, we went to Pediatrics NW and saw Dr. Lilly Kregenow. She was highly concerned about his weight loss and affect, which was changing rapidly. She ordered tons blood work, which we went and had drawn immediately. We waited all day for the results of the tests. Around 5:30 pm on the 26th the doctor called and told me his blood work was abnormal and that we needed to go to the Mary Bridge ER. She told me she was concerned it was Leukemia. By 11:30 pm they confirmed his diagnosis and we were admitted to Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital. Thursday the 27th Jedd was scheduled for his first marrow draw and lumbar puncture with Chemo. However, about 2:30 pm his oncologist came in and explained that his kidney function was not improving with the medicine. They called for an ambulance to transport Jedd to Seattle Children's Hospital in the event he needed dialysis. Friday the 28th we met Seattle Children's physician Dr. Gardn and the team that would be supporting Jeddy. We learned that Jedd has Pre-B Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. We are currently waiting for his TCells to “storm” and kill all of his cancer. Once he is in remission the plan is for him to grow strong in preparation for a Bone Marrow Transplant with cord blood.
Marisol Gamble
This is Marisol Elena Gamble she is 11 months old. She has been diagnosed with AML (Acute myeloid luekemia) since July 10, 2017. Marisol is currently on her second round of chemotherapy. She is a very happy girl and is a people person.
Jesiah Jimenez
On Friday, June 16, 2017 our 19-month-old son Jesiah went in for a follow up appointment due to leg pain. Bloodwork had been ordered and a couple of hours later we received a phone call from his doctor that his bloodwork had come back abnormal and we needed to take Jesiah into the ER ASAP!!
Still at the hospital on Saturday, June 17, he was airlifted from Yakima Regional hospital to Seattle Children's Hospital at 2:20am. There, the doctor stated that Jesiah's white blood cell count was very high and that he was going to have to be admitted into the hospital for further testing and have some repeat labs. They performed a chest X-ray, then off to the Cancer Care unit it was. More tests were performed and then it was the waiting game. Around 2:15pm, a group of doctors came in and confirmed that Jesiah was diagnosed with a High Risk case of “Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.”
Kamya Jordan
Kayma started living with us at the age of one and half. We got custody from the state and we potty trained her. She loves to perform by singing and dancing. She loves going to Church and praising the Lord. She wants to go to Disneyland, which hopefully next year will be brighter and we can. Her favorite color is blue. She understands Spanish. She’s forever grateful for everything and says thank you, always with a smile.
Anthony Bacon
This Anthony, he is 13 years old and was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia on 8/13/2017. Anthony has a 16 year old sister named Gina, who he has always been very close to. He was living in Yakima with his dad while she was living in Eatonville with me. They had always had a hard time with that. So while he was here for the summer and we found out he has leukemia his dad decided Anthony was going to move in with me so he could get treatment. Well this promoted a lot of changes for our family. Their dad (Randy) moved to this side of the mountain to be closer to the kids and they got their wish, they are under the same roof and they have all 3 of their parents on the same side of the mountain. Anthony has picked up a new hobby over the summer, learning how to Bow Hunt with my husband (John). He also loves to go fishing with his dad's. He loves camping bonfires and even just hanging out watching movies with me or playing video games with his sister. We are looking forward to being able to do all these things whenever we all want without the worry of the weather over the pass.
Jr Ruiz
When we took him to the ER they informed us that Jr was experiencing Anemia (low red cells), Neutropenia (Low white cell count), and Thrombocytopenia (low platelet count). He needed to be flown on helicopter to Seattle Children’s Hospital 3 hours from where we live.
After 3 weeks at the hospital they decided to do a bone-marrow biopsy to take a closer look at what was going on with him. IN March, after waiting for answers, they diagnosed him with MDS (Myelodysplastic Syndrome).
Doctors decided he needed a Stem Cell transplant to prevent Leukemia and the date was set for May 19.
On April 16 we moved to Seattle to get Jr started with treatment and to get all his pre-labs and Pre-exams done before transplant.
May 13 started his chemo and radiation and on May 19 Jr got his transplant. Everything was looking like it was on the right direction, until the 23rd after transplant. The Bone Marrow Team decided to do a bone-marrow biopsy because something wasn't looking right. After waiting for the result to come back the results from his BM biopsy they found out his body had AML (acute myeloid leukemia).
The transplant was a total failure and Jr was diagnosed with AML on June 15.
On July 2 Jr started a new chemotherapy called Trametinib, a research drug that had been used only in adults. Jr is the first kid on this chemotherapy in the state of Washington and 1 in 5 kids in the USA.
On July 13 we had a meeting with all the hemoncology, bone-marrow team, and the leukemia specialists. They decided Jr could be getting another stem cell transplant as soon on November 2017 or late December if everything goes well and if they could get his cancer to remission. Right now he still has 12% of leukemia cells on his bone-marrow. So far we have been inpatient since May 17 2017 and won't be discharged anytime soon.
We are deeply saddened to say that Jr. passed away in October 2017. Though the Ruiz's no longer receive our services, they are forever part of our Fighter Family.
Miles Kearbey
In late April 2017, we made a trip to Seattle Children's Hospital for an appointment regarding leg pain Miles was having. Prior to our Children's visit Miles had many appointments in Walla Walla. Our plan was to be at Children's to see the Chief of staff for Pediatric Ortho and hopefully start getting some answers as to why his leg was hurting him so bad. The orthopedic surgeon suspected Osteomyelitis and so he was treated for that. But just a few weeks later the pain got worse.
We went to the ER and they immediately starting trying to manage Miles pain. After a few hours, they decided to admit him to Providence St. Mary's in Walla Walla to try to control his pain overnight.
That night was miserable. After a few hours it seemed that even what they were using to manage his pain, wasn't working anymore. His body was getting use to the meds. He was exhausted and so were we.
The next day was not much better. Finally we learned Miles would be life flighted to Seattle Children’s because there was no way we would be able to control his pain for the 4 1/2 hour drive to Seattle.
Once in Seattle, everything seemed to spiral. Miles was taken directly into the ER once at Seattle Children's. After several hours of monitoring him in the ER, they finally had a room ready for him and they took him upstairs. That morning a team from the Oncology department came in to talk to us about the possibility of Miles having Leukemia. Our hearts were in the pit of our stomach to say the least. They explained that they needed to do a bone marrow biopsy to find out for sure. The hours following the test seemed like an eternity while we waited for the results.
Finally, the doctors came in and asked Mike and I to follow them to another room so they could talk to us. That was longest, shortest walk we have ever taken. Once in the room they gave us the suspected news that indeed our precious Miles had cancer. Leukemia! We were devastated, but we were ready to come up with a plan and fight with our boy.
Now to figure out how to tell our boy that he has cancer. The doctors all recommended being very open and honest and transparent with him....so that is what we did. We told him through our tears that the doctors finally know why he has been in so much pain for so long and that he has a cancer called leukemia. He took it like a champ and said he was going to fight it! One of the nurses had given him a stuffed bear and Miles decided that he was going to name his bear Leuk because it was his Leukemia fighting bear!
We knew that we had many friends and family members on our side...but most important God!
We found out in the next day or two that the type of leukemia Miles had was Pre-B Cell ALL. It was the kind that we had hoped for. Sounds crazy to hope for a kind of cancer for your child to have...but we felt so happy to hear this diagnosis.
Miles has been a trooper through this whole roller coaster ride. He is still his fun-loving spunky self. He loves being social and has made lots of friends that have come and gone at the Ronald McDonald House. He loves sports, loves playing with his rubiks cubes and his kendma's. and loves being outdoors. Miles is a 4th grader and is currently keeping up with his school work at the school at the hospital until he can go back to his school at home. Miles has been such an inspiration to all of us. We are super proud to call this courageous little warrior our boy!
Jayla Ramirez
Jayla was diagnosed with VHR T-cell ALL with Mrr-r on September 30, 2016 at just 3 months old. She has undergone many lp's, chemo, pot access', and series of scans. She is always in good spirits smiling and playing, never letting her illness and lack of not knowing what’s going on with her get her down.
Evan Stephens
Evan is your average 13 year old guy. He enjoys video games, pizza, and staying up late watching movies with his Uncle Ray and his best friend Conner. He also loves anything to do with the medieval time period, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table is one of his favorite tales. He loves to sword fight, shoot his bow, and participate in the Society for Creative Anachronism. He wants to be a game designer or an engineer when he grows up, or possibly a K-9 officer. Evan was diagnosed on July 18, 2017 and has finished his first phase of treatment successfully with no leukemia in the spinal fluid or his bone marrow. We move on to the next phase with high hopes and look forward to a bright future.
Heliodoro Ceja-Siete
This is Heliodoro, he is 15 years old and he was diagnose with leukemia cancer when he was 4 years old. He loves playing video games, cooking, and playing sports. As of right now he is preparing for a surgery.
Philo Parets
Life is full of surprises, some of them not so pleasant. On March 3, 2017 my toddler, Philo Parets, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. As mothers, all we ever want are happy, healthy children, but sometimes there will be a bump in our plan. However, ever since Philo was born on November 21, 2014, he has been a very happy baby. He loves to play summersault with his sister Sophia, plant yummy veggies with his daddy, and cuddle n' kiss his mama. He has always been full of life, love, and energy, even with his battle. When he is at his worst, he holds his head high and will higher. He has learned to adapt quickly while still maintaining an almost normal life. His favorite toys are cars, balloons and skate boards. His favorite TV shows are Super Why and Little Einstein. His favorite food is pizza, hotdogs, and cucumbers. Philo is a gem who won't let this disease get the best of him. He holds me at night and wipes my tears away, reassuring me how, "iz okay, momma.” It'll all be okay. Stay strong my Philo, my love.
Kalena Meuli
Since January 2017 Kalena was in and out of urgent cares and doctors’ offices due to a common cold she just couldn't seem to kick. Her cough lingered and her clear runny nose just wouldn't stop. We began to treat her for allergies because we just weren't sure what was going on. Recently I had switched Kalena's primary pediatrician in March right before I had my second daughter Gracie. If it wasn't for Dr. Verlander who knows where we would be right now. On May 5 Kalena woke up with what we thought was pink eye. We took Kalena into urgent care where she was diagnosed with pink eye and put on antibiotics. Friday night she spiked a fever of 105. We knew something wasn't right. Off to the emergency we went early Saturday morning after trying to bring her fever down with Tylenol and a cold wash cloth. Not long after getting to the ER was Kalena given more Tylenol and a chest X-ray which turned out to be fine and we were sent on our way back home; we were told to follow up with our primary doctor. Dr. Verlander didn't work Monday but he did make himself available to see Kalena Tuesday. After he evaluated Kalena, talking with him and on the verge of tears I told him I can’t leave here without answers. Something is not right. He listened. He told me he was going to send in a prescription for an inhaler to see if it would help with her cough and then order blood work and an ultrasound for the next day at Valley Medical. Wednesday morning came and it was a day I will never forget. Some of the blood work came back faster than others and it showed Kalena to be anemic and her hermatocrit was a little low. The doctor’s office called but Dr. Verlander was not working so Dr. Byrd, Kalena's old doctor, called and explained the results they had back so far and asked us to go be seen at Children's. Dr. Byrd said that it was nothing to be alarmed about but that they would probably monitor Kalena and possibly send us back home after a while. Not even an hour later I was on my way to my parent’s house to drop off my newborn daughter so I could head to Children's with Kalena and meet up with my husband who was working in Seattle. Then I got a phone call from Dr. Verlander himself. Worst phone call ever. Doctor could tell I was driving so he asked me to pull over. He began to go into detail of what the rest of the blood culture showed. He then began to talk about blast cells. CANCER CELLS. My heart stopped for what seemed like forever and my mind just couldn't seem to comprehend what he was trying to tell me. After what seemed like a matter of seconds our life turned upside down and I had no idea what to expect. He further stated that everything he was telling me, that made absolutely no sense to me, was that my sweet little girl has leukemia.
Kalena is a very bright and intelligent little 3 year who has a heart of gold and loves anyone who comes in contact with her. She was in preschool during this time and absolutely LOVED it there. She loves to learn, play with babies, and love up on her baby sister. Kalena also likes to be outdoors, playing with kids, and loves driving anything motorized—she would help mow the yard with her father while steering the mower. Just last winter she and her dad rode on the quad in the snow and pulled the neighbor kids down the street, she loved every minute. She also loves to be a hands on helper for her parents with everything. She has truly blessed us!
Barbara Abbitt
This is Barbara, she is 3 years old. She was born February 4, 2014. Late December Barbara was diagnosed with B-Cell Leukemia, she has had numerous doctors’ appointments for her to get her chemo through her port and through her spine. She’s been in remission since early February and she was released from the hospital late February. She loves playing with her sister and cousin, and with her friends she sees at the hospital when she goes for doctors’ appointments. She got the “okay” to go to school and the official start date is September 6. She will be starting preschool, she has been waiting a long time to go to school. She has a NG tube for her formula feedings and for her medicine. Barbara is very enthusiastic and very friendly, she almost always has a smile on her face.
Alexander Logan
This is Alex. He was diagnosed with high-risk ALL leukemia on January 6, 2017! Alex was sick off and on October-December. We finally made it to Alex's regular pediatrician. She sent us to Capital Medical Center to get blood work done. On Friday, January 6, that night our doctor called me and told me to get a pen and paper and to sit down. She told me that our little boy's white blood cell count was really high and read like count was really low. That we had to go to Seattle children's E.R. right way. So Darnell (Alex's big brother), Jerry (dad), and I packed really quickly while crying and not really understanding what was going on. We got the E.R. around 6-7 pm and waited in the E.R. for the blood work. Yes in fact Alex had high risk ALL leukemia! We got moved up to the 7 floor. Alex is now 2 years old and his birthday is June 3rd. Darnell is going to the Fred Hutch School. We live at the Ronald McDonald House with hopes to move back home in October-November.
Reese Scrivner
Reese is the youngest of five children. She has three sisters and one brother. She was named after her grandparents. She loves animals, books, carbs, music, TV, and walks outside. Her favorite shows are Word Party and Zootopia. Her nick name is Risu.
On April 21, 2017, at fourteen months old she was pre-diagnosed with Wilms' Tumor aka Nephroblastoma. We were immediately admitted to Seattle Children's Hospital.
Four days later, she had a six hour nephrectomy/tumor removal, and port placement. During surgery they will usually make a "preliminary diagnosis" with fair certainty. The oncologist in the OR would not make a call. It took five days for pathology to comeback and confirm Stage 3 Wilms' Tumor with favorable histology.
A week later she had an ovarian transposition. A couple of days later she started a "moderate treatment" schedule of six radiation sessions and twenty-eight weeks of chemo. We got to go home Mother's Day weekend after three weeks in the hospital. She has had one hospital stay and many ED visits. She is now finished with radiation and we’re 10 weeks into chemo schedule.
For seven weeks she had an NG Tube. She would vomit it up almost daily. She is now happily off of the NG Tube.
She enjoys walks in the garden, playing piano with daddy, reading books with mom, dad and grandma, and playing with us all. Reese is a very intelligent baby, incredibly easy to love and a fighter against this terrible monster.
We believe in the power of prayer and have seen many miracles during our time at Seattle Children's and within our precious baby. Our most recent miracle is that she can thrive without an NG Tube and no longer throws up all day because of it.
Izaiah Trillas
Izaiah is a 6 year old boy who turns 7 in August. He is an active little boy who loves being crazy and rambunctious with his older brother and two little sisters. He loves school and is a quick learner. He's a shy boy until he gets to know you. He loves video games, Minecraft, LEGOS, swimming, jumping on the trampoline, camping, and riding 4 wheelers. Izaiah was diagnosed with High Risk ALL, Philadelphia Like and CRLF2 on February 14, 2017 in which we were airlifted to Seattle from Yakima, WA. His white counts was 750k. His body had responded well to his treatments and thus far has had 2 setbacks in almost 5 months which we feel is amazing. We are supposed to be in Seattle until October or November depending on how many setbacks occur throughout treatment.
Steven Sattler
Shortly after Easter of 2017, Steven was diagnosed with T cell accute leukemia. He just celebrated his 12th birthday on June 27. We are currently seeking treatment at Sacred Heart of Spokane. We were rushed up here by his primary doctor in Clarkston when I took him in because his neck was badly swollen. His labs came back and our doctor was concerned. Steven loves his dog, video games, and pokemon. He is responding well to treatments and so far he is doing well.
Savannah Lingenfelter
On September 3, 2012 Savannah woke up with yet another high fever and pain. She was only 2 1/2 years old so it was hard for her to tell us what was really wrong. We took her to the ER at Mary Bridge Children's Hospital in Tacoma, WA. We learned within a few hours that Savannah had cancer. Acute Lymphoblastic leukemia to be exact. We were admitted immediately so she could get blood and platelet transfusions and she started chemotherapy the very next day. Savannah went into remission early and was classified low risk. She sailed through 2 1/2 years of treatment with minimal side effects. She rang the “No Mo chemo” bell on March 3, 2015. Savannah continued off treatment care and was doing amazing with life after chemo.
That all came to an end when she started experiencing headaches, back pain, and chronic fatigue. A CT Scan on April 15, 2017 showed concerning abnormalities in Savannah’s skull and we were taken by ambulance to Seattle Children's. After several tests to include neuro surgery, we were given the news that Savannah’s cancer had indeed returned. After four years of remission and two years off treatment, the leukemia was back. This time it was not in her blood but in her bone in her skull and spine. There are no cases like Savannah’s that we can find. No one here had seen Leukemia come back like this and after such a long remission for a low risk case. Savannah began aggressive relapsed treatment on April 23, 2017. We are praying this treatment gets Savannah’s cancer back in remission forever. We are currently living at Ronald McDonald House during the most intensive phases of Savannah's therapy. Mom (Cheryl) and Dad (John) are big military veterans as well. Savannah has an older brother Robert, Sister Lizzy, and two dogs at home. She loves gymnastics, American Girl dolls, doing crafts, going swimming, soft cuddly blankets, and going to the movies.
Pippa Stuhlmiller
Pippa was diagnosed with an inoperable low grade astrocytoma (brain tumor) a few months before her second birthday. Her tumor was discovered in October of 2016 after months of mysterious vomiting and then finally a loss of balance that made us take her to the ER for an MRI. She had a VP shunt placed to relieve the pressure that the tumor had built up. Pippa has started chemo and will need it for the next year. She will have a G-tube placed soon because she is unable to gain weight, but she has continues to be her happy self in between treatments.
She is outside more than in. Loves laughing at her older brother, making her baby sister giggle, and pointing out every animal she sees. She is such a sweetheart and we are so glad to have our Pippa.
Jeffery Flores-Santiago
We prayed and prepared for another blessing to complete our family. Our 3 older children were so excited and could not wait for God to give us a baby to have forever. We got the news in November 2015 that we were expecting summer of 2016. On Thanksgiving day our Lord called our baby home. During December 2015 my blood showed I was still pregnant. I cried so hard and began to pray that my body was able to hold another baby. December 28th it was confirmed I was still pregnant and lost one of my two babies inside me. Baby Jeff, our rainbow baby made his entrance late but was perfectly healthy. He completed our family so perfectly, 2 girls Maricela and Michelle and 2 boys Angel and Jeffery. Baby Jeff was healthy and happy. Baby Jeff caught a few colds but always managed to get better. Until March 6th when we originally took him into the emergency room. Shortly after arriving with a 6 month old that was working hard to get air, they sent us home with a false diagnosis of bronchiolitis. We then took him to the doctor with him getting worse on March 8th. Our pediatrician said to take him straight to the emergency for an overnight watch as his oxygen level was very poor. We took him to the emergency department and they suctioned his nose and placed oxygen on him. He was still lying helpless. The nurses were getting ready to discharge us yet again. I stood there and said look at my baby he is not even moving, I'm not leaving! My doctor said I can stay 24 hours. So I called my doctor and she ordered labs as I explained that he had not eaten. She wanted to make sure he was not lacking nutrition as I was strictly breastfeeding. Shortly after, our whole world came crashing down.
The words no family should have to hear: I’M SORRY YOUR SON HAS CANCER.
Since then baby Jeff went through 3 rounds of chemo.
Baby Jeff has a very rare childhood cancer called juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (J.M.M.L). He has the kras mutation. Lucky for baby Jeff his brother Angel is his perfect match and will be his bone marrow donor at the age of 5. Angel is a perfect name for baby Jeff’s older brother as he is trying to saving his life.
We are excited to announce that Jeff is currently in remission! Jeff is still in the ICU fighting after damage was caused by chemo and prayers are still appreciated. But it is still a joyous moment that Jeff is currently cancer free!
Reed Cooper
About a month after Reed's 3rd Birthday, my husband took him to Swedish's Urgent Care for pain, nausea, and bearing down to pee but couldn't. After they did a quick catheter to drain his full bladder they diagnosed Reed with Balanitis and prescribed topical ointments. They had us follow up with our pediatrician the next day and gave us a referral to a Pedo Urologist.
The next day Reed saw our pediatrician and felt that it was not Balanitis but an obstruction and had us go to Children's that night. At Children's ER a catheter was placed and instructions given on how to take care of the catheter until we could get into Children's Urology the following Monday or Tuesday.
Over the long weekend Reed and us did not get much sleep because he was in a lot of pain and discomfort that Children's told us was probably coming from the catheter.
On Tuesday, Children's Urology saw Reed for a voiding trial, during the 4 hours he was there he did not pee so they sent him home with a sedative and warm bath instructions to see if he would pee at home. That night was not fun he was in so much pain, bearing down saying he wants to go but can't. He would fall asleep then wake up over and over again. In the morning I called Children's Urology and said we need to be seen immediately, they had us check in with the Emergency department where Reed was catheterized and I was told to follow up the following Monday or Tuesday with Urology. I said, "No I'm not leaving here for another long weekend of no sleep and pain, I'm asking for help and I don't understand how this has happened so acutely that we have never had a problem with him peeing until now, something is not right!" At that point they decided to do a ultrasound of his bladder and kidneys. They found a ping pong sized mass behind his bladder, that had pinched off his urethra explaining why he could not pee! That night we were admitted to the Oncology floor, the next day Reed had a CT SCAN & MRI confirming cancer. That Friday Reed had a biopsy, bone marrow extracted, and a port a catheter central line placed. The following Wednesday the pathology report was back with our diagnosis: Intermediate Risk Embryonal Rhabdomyosarcoma of the Prostate.
Our treatment 43 weeks of Chemotherapy, Radiation 5 days a week for 5.5 weeks, and possible surgery.
We are about to start week 10 of Chemo as I'm writing this and Reed finally was able to pass a voiding trial and get rid of the catheter yesterday after our 3rd in patient admittance with catheter associated UTI.
Reed has been amazing during all of these new events and is able to articulate exactly what he needs. He loves his big sissy Kenzie, his kitty Lexie, dinosaurs, monster trucks, construction equipment, and playing outside. Momma, Daddy, Papa Gene and Grandma, Papa Carl, and all his Aunties and Uncles and Cousins love him as he loves us all too. He is our Reed Strong and we are going to beat this!
Holley Cook
Holley Cook was diagnosed with A.L.L pre-B cell Philadelphialike leukemia at the age of 3. She was diagnosed October 19, 2016. On October 18, 2016 we got transported to Seattle Children's Hospital due to her white blood cell count being so high. She has been a very strong little girl and has been through so much. She has not been on time with any of her chemo treatments due to infection and her having so much pain with mucussitus. But through it all she's been such a strong happy little girl. She loves to hunt and fish with her dad, she loves to draw and color, she's just a very spunky little girl. She loves princesses, her favorite one is Tangled. When she lost her hair she cried and said that she wanted to have her hair to be as long as Tangled when it grows back. Since she's been diagnosed she has accepted the fact and when people ask her about her feeding tube or why she has no hair she tells them exactly what is going on with her. Holley has an older sister and her name is Haley and she is 6. She misses her everyday so when sister comes she is so happy to see her. Thank you for taking the time to read about Holley. We appreciate all that you do. (Written by Holley's mom.)
Dylan Herrick
Dylan was 6 years old when he was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (A.L.L.) He was diagnosed at Sacred Heart Children's Hospital on May 17, 2016. Dylan's treatment will last 3 and 1/2 years, with a high chance of cure. In spite of all that he has gone through thus far, Dylan keeps an amazing attitude and smile on most days. He loves to create art, play video games and collect Pokemon cards. Dylan is wise beyond his years and makes friends easily. Dylan is also interested in becoming a chef. While staying at the Ronald McDonald House, with an increased appetite from Steroids and low energy, he opted to watch the Food Network. His favorite show is Chopped Junior. He now has his own cooking supplies, attire and mastered the art of frying eggs! Dylan is constantly amazing doctors and nurses with his patience and ability to sit still and remain calm and in good spirits during blood draws, accessing and de accessing his port, treatments and preparing for his LP procedures. He especially loves searching for new "poke prizes" and playing music while in the waiting room. Dylan is definitely a trooper and a pure delight to be around!
Pablo Rojas
In the summer of 2014, I had pain in my right leg. School started and there was a big bump by my hip. The pain continued so I asked my mom to take me to the doctor. The doctors checked it out and said it might be a tumor. I really didn't know what a tumor was and my mother was scared. I had a biopsy and found out that I had stage 4 cancer. The doctors then ran x-rays and also found tumors in my lungs. I had chemo for 2 months in the hospital and continued treatment for 8 months. The pelvis tumor shrank so I was able to have surgery to take it out. The tumor ate my whole pelvis but luckily they could replace it with a bionic one. It took about 5 months to recover from the surgery but the tumors in my lungs went away! In 2016 the tumors in my lungs came back and I am still trying to overcome it.Please continue to keep Pablo and his family in your prayers as they battle this awful disease together!
Ireland Wylam
On New Year’s Day, a massive brain tumor was discovered in three-year-old, Ireland. Doctors estimated the tumor itself, accounted for about 25% of the physical brain mass.
On January 11th, it was confirmed that her tumor was malignant, and she was formally diagnosed with an Embryonal Tumor with Multilayer Rosettes-ETMR (formerly known as PNET). The past two months have been trying for her, at best, but she has continued to amaze us all with her courage and ability to accept her new reality with a smile! Ireland is scheduled to endure a remaining seven months of aggressive treatment to regain her life as the healthy, sweet, and spunky girl that we all know. She is anxiously awaiting the day that she is "feeling better," and can return home to be with her daddy and the pets she has had to leave behind.
Preston Scott
Our precious little Preston, at 5 years old, has already been through so much throughout the past year and a half. (6.5 now) These past few months have been especially hard on us as parents, grandparents, family, and friends with the news that no parent wants to ever hear. Preston relapsed almost immediately after treatments.
Preston was diagnosed October 2014 with Regular Medulloblastoma and fell into what they called standard risk which they say has an 80-85% cure rate.We had every reason to believe that treatments worked given every scan had showed nothing new. But on January 20, 2016 his scan showed two new spots. We were devastated! Relapsed Medulloblastoma patients usually don't make it. Maybe 1 out of 20 kids will get through their relapse. WE HAVE NEVER GIVEN UP HOPE!
At this point, we have minimal options, other than more chemotherapy thatmay help extend Preston's life for another 16-18 months. This isn't good enough for us or for our Preston.We ask for your prayers, positive thoughts, and energy for Preston! We are lucky enough to have Preston home with us right now. He is doing fairly well and in great spirits. Preston is such a great joy to us and brings us sooooo many smiles every day! We want to keep those smiles and laughter around! Thank you in advance for your help, hope, and prayers! WE WON’T GIVE UP HOPE!
Thanhvan Nguyen
After 2 weeks of increasing back pain, abdominal pain and headaches Thanhvan was diagnosed with Lymphoma on 12/21/2016. She has been undergoing intensive chemotherapy with weeklong stays in the hospital every other week.
Thanhvan is a bright and caring girl who enjoys spending time with her family and friends. She is in the running start program through Tacoma Community College and continues to do orchestra through her local high school. Her Mom has taken off 3 months of work to care for Thanhvan full time, Footprints of Fight is a huge resource to the family.
Emry Hansen
Emry is a beautiful 3 year-old who lives with her amazing grandparents. On June 20, 2016 she was diagnosed with B Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. She has already gone through so much in her short 3 years and now she is in the fight for her life.
Emry continues to fight through all the tests, chemo treatments, needles, and pokes. Despite all the troubles, she still remains loving and happy. Emry loves princesses, babies, kitties, and she really loves Birthday cake!
Elijah Hagstrom
On July 7th, Elijah was taken to the hospital for a persistent fever. After a battery of tests and scans, his mom and dad were given news no parents ever wants to hear. Their sweet 6 year old little boy has a large tumor on his liver, which has already metastasized to his lungs and other areas around his liver.
Elijah is currently undergoing chemotherapy and has spent numerous nights in the hospital since July! Elijah loves nothing more than laughing with his big sister Olivia and getting into mischief together! He has an amazingly supportive mom and dad who wish and pray for nothing more than his cancer to be cured, and we are right there praying for that as well!! His smile and attitude despite the circumstances are inspiring to all those who he meets and even those he has never met but follow his story!!
Lauren Kinney
Memorial Day 2014, Lauren was diagnosed with an inoperable juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma. She had been exhibiting right sided weakness, headaches, etc. When her symptoms failed to resolve, we were advised to take her to the Skagit Regional hospital for a CT scan. This revealed a mass on the left side of her brain. This was a moment that changed our lives forever. We were sent to Seattle Children’s Hospital on emergency basis that night. The following day she underwent a 6 hour brain surgery, placing a VP shunt to drain the accumulated fluid on her brain and to also take a biopsy of the tumor. She was hospitalized in the P-ICU at Children’s for five days. Following this initial treatment she began a weekly outpatient regimen of chemotherapy. Most of her hair fell out, and she became dependent on getting her nutrition through a nasal feeding tube.
Through all of this, Lauren has always had an amazing, positive attitude. Her first day of kindergarten, she had almost no hair and a feeding tube in her nose; she just put a special sticker on her tube and absolutely rocked it! That course of chemo was cut short at 6 months due to some pretty serious allergic reactions that she had developed. We were able to discontinue chemo because her tumor had stabilized, only having quarterly MRI’s for almost two years before the tumor started to grow and cause symptoms again.
In July of 2016 she began a different chemotherapy protocol that is scheduled for about another year. In true Lauren style, she is conquering this too! We can’t stress enough what an amazing little fighter Lauren is!
Cheyenne Bailey
Cheyenne is a beautiful 15 year old who was diagnosed with B-Cell Leukemia in March!! Because her leukemia is chemo resistant she had to undergo T-Cell Therapy and last month had a bone marrow transplant. After the transplant she was placed in ICU, but her body responded well to the transplant. She is currently out of ICU and doing well!
Cheyenne has 2 brothers and 2 sisters. She and her mom are currently living at the Ronald McDonald House and her dad and siblings live in Graham.
Footprints of Fight feels honored to be able to provide their family with gas cards for family visits and house cleanings with your generous donations! Thank you for your support! Please keep Cheyenne and her family in your prayers!!
Joli Young
Just weeks after Joli's 1st Birthday, on July 20th, she was diagnosed with a Wilm's Tumor. She underwent surgery two days later at Seattle Children's Hospital to remove her left kidney, the tumor and 6 lymph nodes. The tumor cells were also found in 1 of the lymph nodes so Joli has had to undergo radiation and chemotherapy. While her radiation therapy is now completed she is still navigating through a 24 week chemo schedule. Joli has had some side effects to the therapies but continues to prevail and keep her energy and spirits high. She has learned to walk through this ordeal and has become quite the chatty gal. Joli is known on the clinic floor for saying "hi" to EVERYONE in her sweet little voice... it's her favorite word and she sure is a sweet little day maker given everything she's going through.
Hunter Coffman
Hunter Coffman is one little boy packed with personality. At only 2 years old and 3 felt tall, he is in a battle for his life as he was diagnosed December 28th 2015 with Medulloblastoma (a malignant fast growing brain tumor.) Hunter is from maple valley Washington along with his big brother chase who is 6, dad Atom, and mom, Laura. Hunter loves Thomas the trains, wrestling with big brother and playing outside in the sunshine.
While treatment has been hard he pushes through and keeps a smile on his cute little face. Hunter is being treated by the best doctors in the world at Seattle Childrens Hospital. He has had 3 rounds of very intense chemotherapy with amazing results. in the middle of June he started the final step in his treatment plan, proton therapy. He has treatment every day Monday-Friday for 30 sessions (6 weeks) at northwest hospital which is pretty far from home. As a family we are faithful that God is with us on every step of our journey. And at the end of radiation we pray Hunter has no evidence of disease.
We are deeply saddened to say that Hunter passed away in March 2018. Though the Coffmans no longer receive our services, they are forever part of our Fighter Family.
Cadence Nield
Cadence was born with an inoperable brain tumor. She was diagnosed with a Pediatric Low Grade Glioma at 5 months old. It is located in her brain stem and spinal cord. Due to the dangerous location, it is not safe to biopsy, but it is being treated as a presumed Juvenile Pilocytic Astrocytoma (JPA).
Cadence is 5 1/2, she loves doing craft projects, playing with dolls, having tea parties, going to preschool, riding her tricycle, and playing board games. She can't wait till she can read! She loves Hello Kitty, Tinkerbell, butterflies, rainbows, peace signs, sparkles, glitter, pink, purple, turquoise, and anything girly! She loves music, especially Taylor Swift, and she enjoys going to her swimming lessons and gymnastics class. She wants to be a mommy, Doctor, and an artist when she grows up.
Siena Braun
Sienna was diagnosed with Pre B ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia) on May 2, 2014. On July 1, 2015 Sienna relapsed with her cancer coming back in her spine. She is currently cancer free and recovering from a stem cell transplant.
Sienna is a lover of music and dance. But above all a lover of animals. Her dream is to open her own vet clinic where she will help all animals regardless of whether their owners can pay. She would give the shirt off her back for you if you asked. She loves her family more than anything.
Ellie Walton
Ellie was diagnosed at the age of 4 months old with a brain tumor. Originally the diagnose was a benign brain tumor called desmoplastic infantile ganglioglioma. Four months after the diagnose, her tumor grew and became desmoplastic infantile ganglioglioma / astrocytoma. She then started chemo at 8 months old which would last for 9 months. In June 2015, Ellie’s tumor grew again and changed the type of tumor to glioblastoma multiforme stage four, which required radiation and another round of chemo.
Since birth, Ellie has had 17 surgeries. As a result of all the treatment Ellie has hydrocephalus, neuropathy, hearing loss, a non-functioning pituitary gland, and various learning / physical problems.
Ellie is currently 3 years old and loves the outdoors. She is feisty, courageous, and loves to act. She is a huge animal lover, and never leaves her sisters side. She is loving, caring, kind, and one heck of a fighter!
We are deeply saddened to say that Ellie passed away in January 2017. Though the Waltons no longer receive our services, they are forever part of our Fighter Family.
Alyssa Wendell
In 2010, Alyssa was diagnosed with high risk Leukemia at the age of 12 months old. She was in treatment for 2 years in Walter Reed Army hospital in Washington DC where she underwent many rounds of radiation and chemotherapy until the age 3.
In March 2013, Alyssa and her family moved to Joint Base Fort Lewis McCord. In March 2015 Alyssa showed signs that's something was wrong, and a short time later received the news that the cancer is back. Treatment was started immediately at the Madigan Army hospital and then moved to Cancer Care Alliance and Seattle Children’s Hospital in September 2015. Alyssa needed a transplant in which her older brother, Jacob was a 100% match for her! Currently, Alyssa is travelling down the long road to recovery where to keep her healthy, she can’t be around a lot of people, can’t go to school, can’t attend day care, and needs to limit the amount of time spent in public places.
Alyssa is a fire cracker and a fighter! Everybody who has met her at Seattle Children’s hospital knows her laugh, her dance, and her clothes, especially her dresses. Currently, Alyssa cannot attend school, but will do a happy dance when she can go back. She is a proud daughter of a soldier and totally a daddy's girl.
