Our Families
Family Stories
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Read inspiring stories shared by our courageous families. Search for a specific diagnosis or location to find a connection.
Aiden’s Joy
In the months before Aiden’s diagnosis, something just didn’t feel right. Once a thriving and energetic toddler, he began to show signs that, at first, seemed minor—but his parents knew better. It was the end of the COVID era, and Aiden,
Mighty Joey
“Her bloodwork is consistent with Leukemia” the six words that changed our lives forever. In November 2020, in the middle of the covid pandemic, I brought my generally just not feeling well 6-year-old Joey to her pediatrician’s office. As my third
Bella’s Joy
At 13 years old, in November of 2021, Bella had spinal fusion surgery. Several months later, her left shoulder began to hurt. Tracy, Bella’s mom, contacted the surgeon, who stated that shoulder pain should not result from the spinal surgery. Bella
Giza’s Story
When Giza was born in 2012 she was admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit due to birth complications–a harbinger for the many health issues she would face in her childhood. Tragically, before she even turned one, Giza was diagnosed with
Ava Rose
Ava Rose was born on August 2, 2014. She was a very healthy, playful little girl, growing and learning in all the ways toddlers do. However, when she was 22 months old, she slowly began to change in ways only a
The Bliss Family
Brittney Bliss was born May 27th, 2018, and she was the picture of perfection. She joined her older sister, Trinity, and our family was complete. Brian and I had tried for over a year to conceive and suffered a miscarriage before
Gabriel’s Story
When Gabriel was just four years old, in 2016, his mom, Rachel, noticed an unusual discolored lump on his body during bathtime. Gabe didn’t know how it came to be so Rachel contacted his pre-school and father to ask if he
The Iselin Family
A diagnosis of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) isn’t typically a life sentence for a child. In fact, the 5-year survival rate for U.S. ALL patients younger than age 15 increased from 80.2% to 87.5% between 1990 and 2000. It’s referred to
The Hanson Family
Isabella Hanson–sweet little Izzy–was born on November 23rd, 2018. Her mom and dad, Laura and Josh, and her big sister, Nia, were simply in love. Life was good and simple at the start. Nia, a talented dancer, had several classes a
Hope’s Story
Back in November of 2023, our friend Libby at Make a Wish NH contacted us about a little girl named Hope living in Rochester. Hope had a very rare brain cancer that I hadn’t heard of before, called Astroblastoma, MN1 altering
The Redmans
Onyx’s parents, Kris and Morgan, and their four year old son Jade have struggled in now being just a family of three. “It’s just devastating, we were so happy to have two boys close enough in age that they would be best friends for life
The Danoff-Storcks
When you make the decision to have children, the moment they take their first breath they are in your care. You want to protect them, do everything you can to keep them safe, put them in bubble wrap
The Velez-Rivera Family
Dylan’s mom told us, “As a mother we have senses that are hard to explain. I always knew from the beginning that something wasn’t right.
Charlie’s Hope
Charlie was an avid runner; whether it was on the trails in the woods, with the cross country team, on the lacrosse field, or down the hall to get his socks, he ran. It was in running that he first noticed something was wrong.
Princess & Madison
Maddie is a marvel–it’s unquestionable. This girl’s smile beamed as soon as she arrived at the retreat. She was the oldest of the group, yet, she got right in there with the younger kids to throw water balloons, paddle a kayak, ride a horse, hold a snake, or show off her incredible acrobatic skills.
Erica & Josie
Erica has this advice for the caregivers of children with cancer, “Find other families in the cancer community and tell each other your stories. There is strength is hearing what others have been though.”
The Bragdon Family
“There are no words when a doctor tells you that your child will die and there is nothing we can do to save her. How can I, as her mother, not do ANYTHING to help my baby? Until this day, I still have no words for that moment but it is burned into my memory forever.”
Maximus Strength
One of the hardest moments came in May of 2018, when they received the phone call that Max had relapsed. The oncologist called, somber and apologetic… “I’m sorry Sarah, it’s back, there’s three new tumors and we suspect there’s more.”
The East Family
Owen was spunky, mischievous, funny, loving and kind. He had a wonderful singing voice and could often be found belting out his favorite songs even in public. Before his cancer progressed, he would often run fast like his heroes, Sonic and Buzz Lightyear.
Zachary & Peggy
Zachary was equally in shock and disbelief and I recall him asking the doctor, “Am I going to die?” It was a tremendous heaviness as though the world was falling down on top of us.
The Thompson Family
Cori was a blessing to all that knew her. She had big beautiful curly hair, which she loved to adorn with huge bows. She was well mature for her age and knew just how to make her big brothers smile.
The Austin Family
The three of us were holding him and it was an extremely peaceful transition. I felt very similar emotions as I did when he was born, which was just essentially an immense amount of love, only paired with sorrow instead of joy.
The Schultz Family
For our family it was like a bomb went off. Our amazing life was blown apart. We were shellshocked, and also desperate to believe that we could find some experimental treatment that would save her or give her more time.
The Bares Family
Laurel died in our bed between my husband and I in the early morning of June 15, 2018. We were up with her the night before, singing songs and reading and telling her she was the love of our life.
The Ojeda Family
Jayden loved love, he loved life, and most importantly he loved his family and made sure everyone knew that. He was the most caring, selfless, sweet teenager that you can possibly meet
The Santoro Family
At two years old, on December 9th of 2018, Jane Santoro was diagnosed with B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, and the nightmare that is pediatric cancer began.
The McCary Family
After James’ initial treatment and recovery, he spent 13 months in remission. Unfortunately in the summer of 2021, routine testing showed a possible recurrence of the cancer.
The Fromwiller Family
Chace’s mom told us that the news of his DIPG diagnosis completely rocked their world; it felt like their life completely stopped when everyone else’s kept going. They have experienced anger, sadness, and numbness at times.
The Jarboe Family
June was an amazingly spirited girl. She was the happiest, always, despite life’s circumstances. She completed treatment with beauty and grace. She is and was our angel and she will forever be the strongest person we have ever met.
Alister’s Family
Alister was born with a rare & complex genetic disorder called Alagille Syndrome, which affected his liver and heart. Out of nowhere, on July 8, 2019, Alister was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
The Rouleau Family
So many people say that Eliana was a bright light in this world. There was a sense of peace and joy when being with her. She loved life, and did not let her cancer stop her from exploring the world and enjoying all things.
The Goodman Family
The diagnosis… came as a bittersweet victory. Addie’s mom, Angie, recalls, “I had to fight for the diagnosis from a top specialist from Cincinnati Children’s. I was watching my daughter get worse so I felt some relief once treatment started.”
The Clinton Family
“For me it was like the end of the world. I was so terrified and devastated. Nothing seemed normal or real. I literally fell on the floor. It was like I opened a door and walked into a horror movie and the door closed behind me. Nothing would ever be the same after that point,” Breslyn’s mom said.
The Sweger-Nesbits
William was always putting people before himself and he lived each day with a positive attitude and a smile on his face. Even on his really difficult days. Walking out of that hospital without my son was the most difficult thing I have ever had to do, and I continue to put one foot in front of the other every day since. I honor him by doing my best to live the same.
The Iorio Family
In October 2015, the Iorio family, Melissa, John, and 4-year-old Luke, should have been planning their Halloween celebrations. Instead, some unusual bloodwork sent the family to Boston Children’s Hospital…
The Dougherty Family
Having a child is carrying a piece of your heart outside of your body. Losing a child is having to carry that empty space with you for always. It is a wound that never heals. We had hope and tried to make every day count for Odin.
The Strong Family
Everything felt unreal and everything happened so fast. Treatment was work then all of a sudden it was not and Caden was gone. There was nothing I could do to save my baby. There was no real treatment to help him fight. I felt completely powerless and defeated.
The Hewitts
Through everything Kailyn has grown to be an amazing young lady with her own unique quirks. Her mom Alison knows what her daughter is facing and told us, “I am broken everyday wondering to myself just how far this disease is going to go. How much of her life it is going to take away, and when and if it does, have I done enough to fight it?”
The Silvani Family
It’s hard to describe what it was like. Time stopped. Priorities changed in an instant. Suddenly our future was a giant black hole, a giant question mark, with a good possibility our child would die despite our efforts to save him.
The Bottari Family
….having your infant son take his last breathe in your arms. Something I would never wish on anyone but also something I wouldn’t change for a second. I was there to bring him into this world and I was there to ease and comfort him on his way out.
The Wilson Family
Our entire family of 7 was in the hospital room when doctors first told Mason & us they feared he had cancer in his leg. It felt like a nuclear bomb exploded & transported us into the unknown realm of pediatric cancer. Mere minutes after hearing this life changing & unwelcome news, our brave & unconditionally loving first born son told me he was glad it was a him & not us the parents or his little brothers or sisters. In that unforgettable moment, my son’s soul & character was fully revealed. His love, his loyalty & his determination.
The Mandley Family
On June 20th, 2016, Lyndsey and Chris Mandley learned that their precious son, Carter, was diagnosed with cancer at just 9 innocent months old. They were crushed to learn that Carter had Extra-renal Metastatic Rhabdoid tumors (ER-MRT), a diagnosis that bears an extremely low rate of survival.
The Brown Family
Eoin was diagnosed with Leukemia on September 21, 2016, one month after turning 3 years old. Eoin immediately started treatment and life was such a whirlwind as we were thrusted into the childhood cancer world.
The Kaiser Family
It is always disruptive to the entire family when a child is diagnosed with cancer. In our case we added a relocation from Columbus, OH to Boston in addition to learning that we had two boys needing treatment instead of one, and that the treatment was risky and invasive.
The Ross Family
In under two weeks time, Kate and Rodney Ross’s 2.5 year old daughter Kennedy, a girl with black raven curls nicknamed #littlemissadventure, was airlifted to Boston, underwent emergency surgery, suffered a stroke, was given a cancer diagnosis, and never regained consciousness.
The Kucelin Family
Bianka Kucelin will always be a shining light to all who have known her, beloved by family, friends and her whole community. She touched us all with her grace, joy, spunk, beauty and spirit. She loved to dance, play with her sister and friends, sing, go to shows, concerts, and plays, and to laugh. She was always kind, happy, and brave.
The Mortimer Family
Brady was born on June 23, 2009 in Manhattan, Kansas at Mercy Regional Hospital. A healthy and happy 7lbs. 8oz. baby boy. At 2 1/2 years old, Brady started complaining of headaches and eye pain followed by vomiting almost everyday. Katy, Bradys mom, took him to his primary care physician and she said it was just a virus. Time went on and his symptoms worsened. Bradys family was anxious and needed answers so, they were VERY persistent and demanded a CT scan. The news was horrific, they found a massive tumor in his brain.
The Neal Family
We are a family of six. Jason and I (Shawnalee) have been married for 9 years and are the parents of 4 wonderful kids. Jordan (17), Cameron whom would be 15, Jason Jr (7), and Tiara (4). In april of 2010 our lives forever changed. Cameron was diagnosed with Anaplastic Ependymoma. Cameron was such a happy, vibrant and strong kid. There was no way he couldn’t beat brain cancer…. right? Cameron fought for 5 years, fighting through 5 brain surgeries, two 6 week stays for radiation, every chemo known to man, and approved and trial meds. In November 2014 his doctors gave us the worst news any child or parent could ever receive.
The Otterman Family
Our little girl Simone was diagnosed at 10.5 months old with infant leukemia. This is a very rare (about 60-70 cases a year) form of leukemia with a poor prognosis. Despite her age and prognosis our little girl was a fighter. She handled hospitalization, chemotherapy and procedures like a champ and always had a smile on her face. She could always be counted on to bring a smile to every nurse, doctor and patient on our oncology floor.
The Patterson Family
We have always remarked that our family was destined to be. We met in the Army and through sheer luck, ended up in the same units through a five year tour, including more than two years together in Iraq and Afghanistan together. After leaving the Army in 2008, we returned to Colorado to raise a family. Blessed with our son Tristan in 2008 and our daughter Emma in 2010, our “plan” for our family appeared to reach completion with the birth of our third child, Jackson in 2013.
The Giordano Family
On January 9, 2013. Joey, just seven years old at the time, was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, an aggressive pediatric brain cancer. Five days later, our beautiful boy had surgery to remove the large tumor from the base of his brain on the brain stem. When he awoke, he could not walk and had no use of his left arm. After days in ICU he was placed on an inpatient rehab floor for several weeks enduring eight hour days of grueling therapy to learn to walk again and regain the use of his left arm.
The Light Family
Our story begins in early September 2014. Our 3 year old daughter Alison spent the spring/summer of 2014 battling constipation. The very regular issue for a 3 year old took a turn for the worse when we were visiting our family in Virginia for Labor Day weekend. Ali was dealing with quite a bit of pain in her abdomen and bottom area.
The Tajima Family
Our daughter, Addison, was diagnosed with high risk neuroblastoma at eighteen months old. She had a grapefruit-sized tumor originating in her right adrenal gland, basically flattening all organs around it. Over the course of a year, she underwent six rounds of chemo, a massive abdominal tumor resection, a stem cell transplant including a one hundred day isolation, twenty rounds of proton radiation, and five out of six rounds of antibody therapy.
The Kindstedt Family
One Friday in January of 2014 our oldest child, Amy, who was seven at the time, came home from school feeling “not quite right.” She had a low grade fever and she was a little tired. She also had a nagging ache in her chest, which her pediatrician had attributed to growing pains for months. Amy was always an active child who loved playing with her brothers, doing gymnastics, crafts and reading. By Monday she was in the ICU at Boston Children’s Hospital and we learned that the ache was really a collapsed lung and a nine centimeter mass in her chest pushing on her lungs and heart. We were shocked. Even though Amy’s situation was already quite uncertain, we were still completely unaware of how intense the next year would be for our family.
The Cavan Family
Healthy pregnancy, healthy birth, and healthy baby—his mama and dada, Deana and Jim, were overjoyed. For the first six months, life felt like it was meant to be. Rett was by no means an easy baby, but he was thriving, aware, and simply beautiful to look at. On October 28th life changed forever as a visit to the pediatrician for what seemed to be a stomach bug turned into every parent and child’s worst nightmare. Cancer, an extremely large solid tumor, was found on his liver. He’d start chemotherapy immediately. Malignant rhabdoid tumors are nothing to scoff at, in fact, they are extremely rare and aggressive and the prognosis is dire.
