Help and Hope Happen Here

In 2008, Dr. Susannah Koontz left her role as a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist at MD Anderson and started her own Oncology Consulting business called Koontz Oncology Consulting, which she has been at since 2008. Dr. Koontz will first discuss some of the improvements and standards that she initiated at MD Anderson which still are in place today, and then talk about her consulting company and the diff...

The joy of the birth of Savannah Hansen on July 6th of 2023 was muted as there were bruises all over her tiny body as she was born. These bruises signified Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Savannah's mom Sarah will talk about her ordeal which ended up with Savannah being transferred from her local hospital in Las Vegas to Children's Hospital of Los Angeles where she completed her treatment on Jan...

Ryan Soileau's son Henry had a heart rate of 250 when he was 6 weeks old in February of 2020 when he was taken to the emergency room by his mom and Ryan's wife Ashley. It was discovered that Ryan was suffering from Bone Marrow failure which has a one in a million chance of happening. Remarkably, Ryan is now well on his way to leading a healthy life as his Bone Marrow has recovered on its...

Just 4 months after her 13 day old son passed away from a heart defect in the fall of 2016,  April Standring's 2 1/2 year old daughter Mazy was diagnosed with a high risk form of Leukemia . April will talk about the journey that Mazy and her family have been on which took a very positive turn in July of 2019 when Mazy was able to ring the bell at her hospital, signifying the end of her treatm...

The original intent that Chelsea Craigs and Mandi Noland had was to invite stay at home moms to get together for a social gathering.  What happened after that was that this "Social Gathering " became a Non-Profit to help families in Arizona who had children that were battling some type of Pediatric Cancer. This non- profit was named the Copper Rain Foundation, and is really just in its i...

Katie Histing was diagnosed with Ewings Sarcoma as a 17 year old during the Christmas season of 2018. Katie has battled with this form of Pediatric Cancer for 5 1/2 years  and had what was hoped to be her final Chemotherapy treatment 7 months ago, just after her Stem Cell transplant. Through all of her difficult times, Katie is doing what she can to give back to others through her Katie's Col...

N'Jhari Jackson had 2 polyps removed from his vocal chords when he was 5 years old and has struggled mightily with physical and mental issues for the last decade and a half. Now a University of Florida graduate, N'Jhari will detail his life which has been dedicated to giving back to others in need, and , despite struggling with the aforementioned issues, has accomplished a great deal and...

Maurice Ahern and his family were living in China in 2010 when his 1 year old son Micah was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma. Maurice will talk about quickly moving his family to Orlando to have Micah's surgery and his 6 year ordeal fighting this disease which ended with his passing in July of 2016. Maurice will also talk about his love for the Food Industry and for Baking, which he has used for...

Hearing loss is a very well known side effect and long term effect that survivors of Pediatric Cancer must be aware of, especially if they are being treated with Cisplatin during Chemotherapy, which is a very effective medicine in helping to save lives of these children and adolescents . Holly Reames and Eric Meyer, who work at Fennec Pharmaceuticals will talk about the ramifications of this heari...

For the past 3 years Mariah Forster Olson and Mary Beth Collins have been working on a Toolkit to help Pediatric Cancer survivors and their families try and navigate through the period when they have gone past the 5 year mark since their cancer diagnosis, but have many issues to conquer both physically and mentally because of what they went through during their cancer experiences. This toolkit is...

Tabitha Odom thought that her 2 year old daughter Sailor might have the flu when she brought her to a Walk In Clinic in November of 2022 as she had not been feeling well. Later that night Tabitha became worried when she received a phone call at 9:00 PM and said that Sailor needed  to go to a hospital emergency room. After that she was sent to  UTMB Hospital in Galveston Texas where Tabitha was tol...

In April of 2023 Vickie Stevens and Don McCarthy's little son Rio was experiencing a loss of appetite, limping instead of walking, and losing energy. After a stay at a local hospital did not solve the question of what was wrong with Rio, he was transferred to a large hospital in London and was finally diagnosed with Stage 4 Neuroblastoma. Rio is now into his 8th month of treatment  and the ho...

Abby Wagle and Ella Bresee met in 2019 when they played competitive basketball against each other. They quickly became best friends and then in 2021, Ella was diagnosed with the Pediatric Brain Cancer Medulloblastoma. Abby is now a sophomore in high school and will talk about the close friendship that she and Ella had, and how difficult it was when Ella passed away in September of 2022. Abby will...

After little Charlie Stevens was taken to his doctor after he developed a lesion in his right eye, it became apparent that he had too many white blood cells, but an X Ray and ultrasound showed him to be healthy in the early days of 2020. Just six weeks later Charlie was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. A very aggressive treatment protocol led to his remission that year but just before Christ...

Brian Burkhardt and his family left their home in Miami and went to the Florida Keys during Spring break in early in 2020 where they had to isolate because of Covid. Two days after they returned home his son Oliver was having trouble breathing which sounded like a Covid issue,  but turned out to be the Pediatric Blood Cancer Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Brian will talk about this diagnosis, Olive...

When Vara James was 9 years old in 2016 she was diagnosed with the Kidney Cancer Wilms Tumor. Now 17 years old, Vara has been cancer free since February of 2018 and has many options to look at as she is able to live as normal of a life as possible. Vara and her mother Emily Gordon will talk about these past 8 years which include helping to start the Rock Cancer program along with Neuro Oncologist...

It took 5 years after waking up each day feeling tired and sick, but Kim Denice was finally diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma as a senior in high school in 2013. Kim will talk about the struggles that she had while she was in treatment and even to this day, as she has been cancer free for over 10 years. Kim will also talk about her involvement in the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the fact that...

Christen Gray's 5 year old son Finn complained of back pain in the day's before he was to go to kindergarten in 2018. As Christen drove Finn to school for his first day, his back was hurting so much that he had trouble sitting in his car seat. Just a few days later Finn was diagnosed with the Pediatric Bone Cancer Ewings Sarcoma. Christen will talk about Finn's all too short life wh...

When 10 year old Oliver Smith was trying out for his under 11 hockey team in the fall of 2016 his father noticed that Oliver was not as agile, fast, and flexible as he normally was. He also complained of pain in his groin area. Other symptoms arrived and in early 2017, Oliver was diagnosed with Ewings Sarcoma which was already at Stage 4. Oliver fought his battle for nearly 2 and half years before...

It took a confirmation from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital to finally confirm that 6 year old Mia Falvey had Medulloblastoma after waiting for an official diagnosis for more than 30 days. Since the summer of 2022 Mia has been under treatment for this most common form of Pediatric Brain cancer and is waiting for an upcoming MRI which will tell the doctors what her next treatment protoco...

Bothered by pain in her shoulder blade since the fall of 2020 while she was a member of her high school volleyball team, 14 year old Eliy Simmer saw many doctors but did not get diagnosed with Ewings Sarcoma until May 12th of 2021. Eliy spent the rest of that year undergoing treatment for this form of pediatric cancer and in January of 2022 her treatment protocol successfully ended. Now a high sch...

Maggie Schmidt was a 16 year old seemingly healthy teenager when she competed in a Tough Mudder race in the summer of 2016. 18 days after that, Maggie started experiencing symptoms that would lead to a diagnosis of Malignant Rhabdoid Tumors in October of that year.  As she tried to overcome whatever setbacks came her way, Maggie had one bad break after another and passed away from this form of Ped...

Parker Watson was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia when he was 4 1/2 years old and is now a Pediatric Cancer survivor. His parents Michelle and Mike found out about Team Impact and Parker was connected with the Harvard Men's Hockey Team, has been their Team Impact Representative since January 31st of 2023.  Noah Janfaza in his 3rd year of being the Student Manager for the Harvard H...

Michelle Watson's 10 year old son Parker was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia when he was 4 1/2 years old in 2017. Now 10 years old, Parker was connected through Team Impact with the Harvard Men's Hockey team and he has been an official Team Member of the Crimson since January 31st of 2023. Michelle talks about how much Team Impact has meant to her family and how much joy that...

Amanda Cruz has the difficult task in explaining all the things that went wrong during her son Zioniah's treatment for Lymphoma which started in late 2022 and lasted until his passing on September 19th of 2023. Amanda will talk about the myriad of mistakes that were made medically which led to Zioniah unnecessarily being in a great deal of pain during much of his treatment protocol. Amanda wi...