Help and Hope Happen Here

Patrick Lacey's son Will was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma when he was 5 months old. When he turned 2, the Lacey family was told that unfortunately Will could not be cured. On today's podcast, Patrick will talk about how he then went to work to make sure that this diagnosis was going to be an incorrect one. After meeting Dr. Giselle Sholler, who had lost a patient to Neuroblastoma previou...

After recovering from his Pediatric Cancer Hodgkins disease diagnosis while he was in high school, Jason Nickoloff went on to become a long time board member of the American Cancer Society and in 2015 co founded the C2C relay, which is a road race that takes place between Columbus and Cincinnati Ohio and has raised over $700,000 for the Road to Recovery program.  Jason will talk about all of these...

Stan Robbins began his advocacy work for Pediatric Cancer patients and their families after he volunteered for the first time at an event while working at Bob Evans, a well known restaurant chain in the midwest.  Eventually Stan took over the running of that event and became a passionate and well known advocate for these kids on Capitol Hill and in his home state of Ohio. Stan will talk about  the...

After hearing about Nathaniel, a 4 year old boy who had a traumatic brain injury, Sara-Jane Walsh decided to create a musical video for his family to honor what he had been going through. This video was just the first of many which, along with encouraging parents to tell their stories on line of their children suffering from a myriad of illnesses including many from Pediatric Cancer , eventually b...

Joey Felder will talk about losing his brother and best friend Ben to Rhabdomayosarcoma when he was just 5 years old and when Joey was 7. Now a 1st year Medical Student at Emory University, Joey has many memories of his time with Ben and how his younger brother has always been a true role model for him as he has gone through his childhood, adolescent, and teenage years. As Joey prepares for some t...

Susan Ross was an elementary school teacher beginning in the mid 1970's in Ontario,  Canada.  In 2008, she began a second career as a children's author, focusing on putting smiles on the faces of kids ranging in age from 3- 8 years old. One of her books, WILLOW's WONDERFUL WIGS, which of course had a happy story line and ending, focuses on the real problem for kids who lose their ha...

Professor Claire Wakefield is one of the leading , if not the leading experts concerning psychosocial issues down in Australia. Professor Wakefield will discuss a wide variety of what she has done to help make advances in this critical area for so many residents both "Down Under" and globally as well.  Professor Wakefield is considered the most accomplished author in the world when it co...

Talia and Logan Tallman's son Escher was diagnosed with Spindle Cell Rhabdomayosarcoma  before his 3rd birthday in 2017. Talia will talk about the book THE SECRET CLUB Inside The World Of A Pediatric Cancer Family that she wrote, which focuses on Escher's cancer battle and the trials and tribulations that Talia and Logan went through as they tried to deal with doctors and oncologists in...

Scott Kirian, a cancer survivor himself, will discuss his passion for pediatric cancer patients and their families that he has met over the past several years and the emotional support that he has provided to them. He will also give his thoughts as to what this cause means to him and how he has been welcomed by the families that he has supported. 

Cindi Bonner will talk about the Rally Foundation in Pensacola Florida which was added to the already established Rally Foundations in Atlanta and Nashville, to give another location for pediatric cancer patients and their families to take advantage of the programs and advances that this Foundation has been providing for many years. Cindi will be joined by Anamarie Mixson, who lost her son Wyatt t...

Shortly after Sophie Ryan was diagnosed with an Optic Pathway Glioma in 2013 when she was 8 1/2 months old, her mother Tracy decided to treat Sophie with cannabis in combination with the traditional treatments such as chemotherapy, as she and her husband Josh searched for ways to help their daughter recover from this form of Pediatric Brain cancer. Contacted by Talk Show host Ricki Lake, they deci...

Both Brian Gourley and Dwight Witherspoon had difficulty finding the proper doctors and hospitals for their children, each of whom had been diagnosed with different forms of Leukemia. They will discuss their frustrations during this period and will talk about the solution that Brian and his wife Erin came up with when they started their data based business CUREWHEEL. This business focuses on organ...

Jessica Pajak will discuss her daughter Emma who was diagnosed with Ewings Sarcoma when she was just 6 weeks old. After her first year of life was filled with chemotherapy treatments, biopsies, blood transfusions and MRI's, Emma is now 4 years old and has shown No Evidence of Disease for the past 3 years.  Jessica will also talk about the Wine Company ONE HOPE and how its mission of giving a...

Gabriella Miller lived less than one year after her diagnosis of DIPG in 2012. During that time, she was able to become a passionate advocate for the cause of Pediatric Cancer, including a memorable statement just 2 weeks before she passed away as she implored Congress to "STOP TALKING AND START DOING" Shortly after that House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, helped to push through legislati...

After a 31 year career as an executive at IBM , Mark Weiss decided to start a non profit that would bring passion and help others. This non profit, COMIC BOOKS FOR KIDS is now the largest charity for Comic Books in the country. Mark will talk about how he started this non profit in 2017, and the steps that he took to get his organization to where it is today. The bottom line is that it has helped...

Courtney Durante's daughter Lilli was diagnosed with an Optic Pathway Glioma Brain Tumor when she was 4 years old. Lilly decided to wear a different costume to each of her year long chemotherapy sessions . Now 7 years old, Lilly is doing very well health wise. In honor of Lilly, Courtney started the Non Profit COSTUMES FOR COURAGE which provides costumes to pediatric cancer patients in hospit...

Melissa Scott is the Managing Director of the Charlotte North Carolina branch of the Pediatric Cancer non profit COOL KIDS CAMPAIGN. Melissa will talk about the many different programs it offers to these kids and their families, and will also discuss the contributions from former great athletes and current Board Members Ken Singleton and Dan Jansen, as well as the contribution from all time Olympi...

Just 1 day after her son Jacob passed away from Medulloblastoma in 2009, Nancy Goodman started the Non Profit KIDS V CANCER.  Nancy will discuss this non profit, whose objective it is to find new methods and medicines to help in the fight against Pediatric Cancer. Nancy is one of the leading advocates on Capitol Hill for these kids, and her advocacy has produced a number of initiatives along with...

After hearing that a fellow high school classmate was diagnosed with Non Hodgkins Lymphoma, High School seniors Cole Stabnick, Luke Reynolds and five others created an event to honor his cancer fight. This event became a non profit called BALL 4 A CURE. This non profit is anchored by a 3 on 3 basketball tournament along with a recently added golf tournament and has raised over $100,000, which has...

Emily Hein is a Registered Nurse, and a mother of two children who fortunately have never been diagnosed with Pediatric Cancer. After her friend's 5 year old daughter passed away from Neuroblastoma, Emily, who was a long time volunteer for different causes, decided to concentrate solely on helping kids and their families navigate their way through the most difficult path imaginable as they fi...

Jayne Vinson's grandson Jayden was diagnosed with colon cancer when he was 11 years old, a from of cancer that normally strikes adults in their middle age years or even later. Jayden went through an excruciating 17 hour surgical procedure  which cost him his colon, spleen, gallbladder, and part of his liver and pancreas in the process. Jayden passed away of July 17th of this year. As rare as...

Dr. Tabitha Cooney joined the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in 2019 as a Pediatric Neurooncologist as well as the Director of  the Pediatric Neuro Oncology Survivorship Program. Dr. Cooney will talk about those roles as well as discussing the clinical trials that she has been working on and the difficulties that Pediatric Brain Cancer survivors face as they move  through their lives into adulthood....

After her daughter Sydney was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma in the spring of 2020, Jenna Brown decided to start a Non Profit called LOVE SMILES. This non profit invites Children's Authors, Illustrators, and Publishers to share their works with Pediatric Cancer patients through an app, and also allows parents to share stories of their children's individual cancer battles on the Love Smile...

Regina Karchner was finally diagnosed with a Pediatric Brain Tumor when she was 16 years old, 2 years after her symptoms were dismissed by her pediatrician, who suggested that Regina's mother , who was insisting on a more thorough examination, go for psychological help. As is always the case, her mother proved to be correct and Regina has since dedicated her life to helping other Pediatric Br...

When Derek Zinser's father passed away on January 1st of 2009, Derek decided he needed to become involved in the fight against cancer, and chose Pediatric Cancer as his outlet. Five years after his father's passing in 2014 Derek started Mascots For a Cure, a non profit to help cheer pediatric cancer patients up during their treatments in hospitals around the country. This non profit feat...