Help and Hope Happen Here

In the late summer of 2019 Molly Oldham had been suffering from migraines, vomiting, and feeling lethargic, but she was still planning on leaving for her Freshman year at the University of North Carolina Greensboro where she was to study Musical Theatre. Unfortunately she was diagnosed with Anaplastic Emendymoma which is a form of Brain Cancer. Since her diagnosis, Molly has had 3 brain surgeries...

Amy Samsury's daughter Danielle was diagnosed with High Risk Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia when she was 7 years old in 2011. Danielle is now 10 years past her successful fight against this Pediatric Blood Cancer and is about to begin her Masters program in Athletic Training at Marshall University. Amy will talk about what her daughter went through including the trauma of losing her hair 5 time...

On today's podcast Robin French, who is the Operations and Project Manager for the Morgan Adams Foundation will talk about how her now 21 year old son Will's successful battle against a form of Pediatric Brain Cancer, which he was diagnosed with when he was 2 years old, led her to a career involvement in the cause of Pediatric Cancer. Robin will talk about Will's fight , and the Fou...

The Brain Tumor Craniopharyngioma that Logan Setzer was diagnosed with as a 10 year old in 2007 was benign but the side effects and after effects that Logan has suffered with for the past 16 years are almost impossible to fathom. On today's podcast Logan's mother Tiffany will talk about how Logan has had to deal with obstacles such as being legally blind, having a personality change, hav...

Cheryl Adams saw a small mole on her son Graham's left arm when he was 9 years old in 2013. The mole was removed but Graham's problems had just started. 6 months later he was diagnosed with Pediatric Melanoma. Graham underwent 40 surgeries but did not sit idly by while hospitalized. He and others designed rubber bracelets to highlight his fight and 100,000 of them were sold. Graham'...

After experiencing headaches, tiredness, and swollen lymph nodes, Laura Davis took her 14 year old son Cole to the doctor in January of 2020 where the thought was that he might have had Mononucleosis. Instead, after a test showed that Cole's white blood cell count was over 300,000, his diagnosis came back as T Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Laura will talk about the 2 and a half year trea...

After his son Pablo died from Bilateral Wilms Tumor 6 days after his 6th birthday in 2008, Jeff Castelaz decided to ride his bicycle from Florida to California to honor the memory of his son. That ride raised $250,000 which was the seed money used to start the Pablove Foundation. On today's podcast Kerstin Lynam who is the foundation's Chief Executive Officer, and Lauren Aufiero who is t...

In 1977,  Linda Park's son and Dana - Sue Crews' younger brother Luke was diagnosed with Histiocytosis X when he was 18 months old,  was told that he would not survive, and that the end would be quick and tragic. On today's podcast Linda and Dana-Sue will talk about Luke and how he recovered from his blood cancer diagnosis which is now known as Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis and is t...

Both Deanna Fournier and Ana Valdez suffered from the blood cancer Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis but at very different stages in their lives. Deanna , now the Director of the Histiocytosis Association, was diagnosed when she was 6 years old and Ana was diagnosed 3 years after her symptoms began to appear during the final trimester of her pregnancy.  Both Deanna and Ana will talk about their involv...

After experiencing headaches and vomiting through much of the summer in 2019, Lori Evans took her then 12 year old son Noah to the doctor and eventually to a Neurologist, who ordered an MRI which showed that Noah had the Pediatric Brain Cancer Diffuse Midline Glioma. After chemotherapy and radiation treatments, Noah was enrolled in the Clinical Trial ONC 201 which eventually stopped working and in...

Zach Cook's younger brother Caleb was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia during the beginning of his kindergarten year in 2013. On today's podcast Zach will talk about the past 10 years which have been a rollercoaster ride which Zach has negotiated successfully as he is getting ready for his freshman year in college. He will talk about the help that he gave to Caleb and his fami...

Alexandra Paterson was named the Director of Brand Communications for the V Foundation in January of 2023. On today's podcast she will talk about this Foundation that was started in 1993 by former North Carolina State Basketball Coach Jim Valvano and ESPN during Jim's cancer battle.  The V Foundation has awarded more than 300 million dollars to cover nearly 1200 research grants in the pa...

Michael Cramer was diagnosed with Hepatosplenic T Cell Lymphoma in July of 2020.  Michael and his mother Ashlee will discuss the very difficult nearly 2 year treatment protocol that he had to go through in which Michael finally  began to recover and feel better beginning in April of 2022. Through it all  Michael and Ashlee started a podcast called Michael And Mom Talk Cancer, and used their social...

The Make a Wish Foundation is one of the most important and iconic organizations for children and adolescents who are undergoing treatment for a variety of diseases, with many of them battling Pediatric Cancer. On todays podcast Julie Abel and Amy Carroll from Make A Wish will talk about the innerworkings of an organization that is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year and is about to grant i...

On today's podcast Julie Frampton will give great information on Melanoma , which is the most deadly form of skin cancer. Julie was diagnosed with Melanoma 12 years ago when she was 34 years old, had another diagnosis of it 2 years later but has had had No Evidence of Disease since.  What is not as well known is the fact that this form of cancer can and does effect both children and adolescen...

For the past 35 years the RELAY FOR LIFE, a fundraiser that has raised more than 6.5 billion dollars for cancer research put on by the American Cancer Society has played a major role in the fight against cancer. On today's podcast Elenna Peroni a senior at Algonquin Regional High School in Northboro , Massachusetts will talk about this event which she organized in her high school, and that gi...

On today's podcast Courtney Mount will talk about her daughter Millie who was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma when she was two years old in 2018 and passed away during Covid.  Courtney will talk about Millie's treatment of chemotherapy and then immunotherapy which never really helped, and the difficult last few days before her passing. Courtney will also talk about her book Millie Finds Her...

Kelli Ritschel Boehle's son Nick passed away from Synovial Sarcoma in March of 2012. During his cancer battle which lasted for 3 1/2 years, Nick was undergoing a clinical trial at the National Institute of Health when he met a young man named Nate. Nick was just young enough after he was diagnosed to be able to take advantage of the Make A Wish Foundation who granted he and his family a trip...

Leeanne West became the President of the International Children Advisory Network in 2018. This non-profit has 36 chapters in the United States, Canada, and Africa and its focus is to help empower children, adolescents, and young adults to make their own decisions concerning their individual health care battles. These chapters all have a Youth Council, a Young Professionals Group, a Siblings Group,...

Brandi Lee Sawyer's son Finn  was diagnosed with Rhabdomayosarcoma in 2016 when he was 18 months old and after a nearly 2 and a half year battle, passed away on December 2nd of 2018. Brandi Lee will talk about her beloved Finn on today's podcast and will also talk about the great advocacy work that she has been doing since his passing. Now the Director of Patient Advocacy and Engagement...

After doing both his residency and post doctorate at Dana Farber and Boston Children's Hospital and spending a number of years working in one of the best Pediatric Cancer Hospitals in the Country, Adam Durbin moved to Memphis and to another great facility in St. Jude Children's Research Hospital 2 years ago to continue his more than blossoming career in Pediatric Cancer. Focusing on Neur...

After watching her older brother successfully battle Leukemia as a teenager, Jen Costa decided early on that she wanted to be a Pediatric Oncology Nurse. On today's podcast, Jen will talk about her nearly 20 year career that she has spent working with patients suffering from Pediatric Cancer at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute,  as well as many other parts of nursing that she has been adding...

 On today's podcast Dr. Elias Sayour will talk about his goals to help in the fight to cure the most aggressive forms of Pediatric Brain Cancer. Dr. Sayour will discuss some of the most important topics in this fight including overcoming the Blood Brain Barrier , the dynamics of Brain Cancers as they respond to treatment, how Immunotherapy can be such an important addition to help  win these...

Esther Earl was diagnosed with Thyroid cancer at the age of 11 while living in France. On today's podcast her mother Lori will discuss moving their family of 7 to the Boston area so that Esther could receive more advanced treatment at The Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Boston Children's Hospital. Esther's family was told that her cancer was incurable and she passed away on August...

On March 2nd of 2022, 22 year old Joe Thompson was diagnosed with DIPG , after his first diagnosis of Vertigo turned out not to be the case. Joe will talk about how the past 14 months have been as from the beginning he has looked at his situation in the most positive light possible. Joe has turned his focus which after graduating from the University of Alabama was on his chosen career path, to one...