Help and Hope Happen Here

When Cole Eicher was 12 years old he was diagnosed with Medulloblastoma, which is the most common form of Pediatric Brain Cancer. After an intense 9 month treatment, Cole recovered from this disease. He has spent the past 7 years advocating for children who have experienced all forms of Pediatric Cancer. At the age of 12 Cole decided that he wanted to be a voice for children and families facing ch...

Amy Sapien's son Landen was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic T Cell Leukemia and is currently about halfway through his 3 1/2 year treatment. Nine months into this treatment, Amy was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. Amy will talk about both of their battles, plus her involvement in CAC 2 and Prep For Gold, which are two leading Pediatric Non Profit organizations. 

When Julie Guillot's son Zach passed away from Acute Myeloid Leukemia after a more than 4 year battle with this disease, Julie said upon leaving his hospital room for the last time "This Is Not Over, This Is Not Over".  Julie has since kept her promise and then some, as since 2014 she has become one of the leading and most well known advocates for this more than difficult form of Ch...

Kezia Fitzgerald has twice been diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma in the past 10 years and during the early part of her own cancer battle, she gave birth to her daughter Saoirse who was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma in the first year of her life, and passed away when she was 18 months old. During Saoirse's treatment, Kezia created a sleeve which helped Saoirse with her picc line, that she was h...

Ally Tamayose and Delaney Sweet are two of the thirteen Jr. Board Members of MIB Agents, a non profit started by Ann Graham that focuses entirely on the very difficult bone cancer of Osteosarcoma.  Ally and Delaney will discuss their Pediatric Cancer journeys, their plans for the future, and their thoughts on MIB Agents, which has meant so much to both of them as they are giving back to others who...

Kara Skrubis, Maeve Smart, and Mia Sandino all were diagnosed with Osteosarcoma as adolescents or teenagers. They will discuss their individual journeys with this form of Pediatric Bone Cancer , in which they all have endured very difficult treatment.  They will also talk about their roles and their thoughts on MIB Agents, which is a non profit dedicated exclusively to the fight against Osteosarco...

Grace Bunke was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma in August of 2014, and fought this disease as bravely as possible until her passing in March of 2018. On today's Podcast, her mother Vicki will talk about Grace's Rotation Plasty surgery which allowed her to be fitted for a  a prosthetic leg, which led to her becoming a good enough swimmer that she qualified for the Georgia Para State Swimming...

Jonathan Agin's hero, his daughter Alexis, passed away from DIPG after a 33 month battle with this most deadly form of Pediatric Brain Cancer.  Since that day  in January of 2011, Jonathan has become one of the foremost and best known advocates for kids who are diagnosed with this almost always terminal disease. Jonathan will talk about the many aspects of advocacy work that he is doing in th...

Olivia LoRusso was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia when she was 11 years old. Her mother Shelley will talk about her very difficult battle with this disease which led to her passing in April of 2017.  Since that time Shelley started the Olivia Hope Foundation which is focused on both research and in helping families that are going through the very unfortunate experience that Shelley, her hus...

Anna Thompson's son Lake passed away from Acute Myeloid Leukemia on May 1st of 2015 when he was nine years old. Anna will talk about Lake's battle with this disease, plus the non profit that she and two other families started after they lost their daughters to the same disease a few months later . This non profit has raised almost a million dollars  in research  for AML.  Anna will also...

Bryanna Kitchen had to deal with High Functioning Autism, ADD, and learning disabililites, even before her leukemia diagnosis in early August  of 2016. Her mother Kristena will talk about Bryanna's life and her 85 day hospitalization which sadly ended as she passed away on October 24th , having never left the hospital. Bryanna was nine years old. Kristena will also discuss her Bryanna's...

When Ann Graham was training for a marathon at the age of 43, she developed pain in her leg which eventually was diagnosed as Osteosarcoma, a bone cancer which is normally found in adolescents and teenagers.  Ann will tell the story of her recovery at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York City, where she met the mother of Alyssa Divers, a young Osteosarcoma patient who was nearing the end of her li...

Dr. Lori Wiener is the head of the Psychosocial Support and Research program at the Pediatric Oncology branch of the National Cancer Institute which is associated with the National Institutes of Health.  Dr. Wiener helped to develop the first evidence based psychosocial standards of care for children with cancer and their families. She also has introduced innovations such as Shop Talk and My Voice...

During the 33rd week of her pregnancy, Kristin Connor was told that her soon to be newborn had a tumor that was diagnosed as Neuroblastoma 30 days after he was born. Her son Brandon is now a fully healthy soon to be 20 year old, who despite many obstacles, never had to actually undergo treatment for his disease and was declared cancer free when he was 2 years old. During this period and afterwards...

On today's Help and Hope Happen Here Podcast, Suzanne Gwynn will talk about both her hopes and her frustrations in trying to complete her vision of building a home which would welcome Pediatric Cancer patients and their families who are dealing with the last days of their child's lives. This home, named the Ladybug House, will be free of charge, will have medical support available 24 hou...

Jordan Herrle was diagnosed with Acinic Cell Carcinoma when she was 9 years old and relapsed when she was 11 years old. Now at 28 years old, Jordan is a full time medical assistant at Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland Oregon, which was the same hospital that she had her cancer treatment at. Since Jordan was 14, she has spent a week each summer at Camp Ukandu, a camp which welcomes P...

Dr. Jessika Boles is a Child Life Specialist, Team Leader, and Adjunct Professor at Vanderbilt University and will talk about her wide range of research and knowledge which has disproven long standing theories of the involvement that Pediatric Cancer patients should have  in their own cancer battles.   Her research and knowledge has proven that these kids should be involved and should not be shiel...

Zach Sobiech was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma in the fall of 2009 and passed away in May of 2013, just after his 18th birthday. In today's Pediatric Cancer Podcast, Zach's mother Laura will detail his amazing battle with this disease and his legacy which will live on forever. In the last year of his life, Zach produced and recorded a song called "Clouds" which rose to number 1 o...

As the Psychosocial part of Pediatric Cancer becomes more and more relevant , Dr. Anne Kazak will talk about many aspects of this subject which have become standards which need to be met ,as  Pediatric patients survivors and their families try to move past their recoveries and lead lives as free from anxiety driven side effects as possible.  Dr. Kazak will address the topics of Post Traumatic Stre...

Dr. Gilles Vassal is involved in many facets of pediatric oncology in Europe and around the world. He is the the Chairman of an internationally based initiative called Accelerate which he started in 2015. Dr. Vassal is also the President of Innovative Therapies for Children with Cancer which is an academic consortium , and is a professor at Gustave Rossy, which is considered to be the leading canc...

Born and raised in Costa Rica, Gaby Miller saw her younger sister Erica pass away from Ewing's Sarcoma during her time there. Eventually, she moved to the United States, became a Physiotherapist, and has partnered with a cancer based foundation started by Pediatric Cancer patient Alexander Goodwin, to open her own Physical Therapy clinic to work exclusively with patients who are suffering fro...

When Fernando Morales was 15 years old, he was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma. His mother Esther will talk about Fernando's   3 1/2 year journey in which he fought every way possible to to make the most out of the time he had left, even though he was in pain during a majority of his battle.  His last years included traveling, making sure that he got the most out of his education includin...

While dancing at the very prestigious Edge Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles when she was 15 years old, Chelsea Wagner felt terrible pain in her left ankle which turned out to be Adamantinoma, a very rare bone cancer which ended her hopes for a dancing career. Faced with some very difficult treatment and its after effects, Chelsea, now 15 years past her diagnosis, is healthy and is working on...

Just 2 days after  playing 4 soccer games on a Saturday afternoon in January of 2007 and leading his travel team to a Pennsylvania State Championship,  14 year old Andrew McDonough had a septic shock, was in cardiac arrest, and was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Never being able to even leave the hospital, Andrew passed away just 167 days after his diagnosis. Andrew's father Joe will...

Amanda Tallman passed away from Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in 2012. Her mother Lorraine will talk about Amanda's life and her goals to design a unique clothing line to help her peers who were undergoing treatment for cancer. After her passing, Lorraine created the Amanda Hope Rainbow Angels Non Profit, in which COMFY COZY shirts were created for these kids undergoing chemotherapy. 10,000 Pe...