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Friends of Will As an infant, Will Lacey was diagnosed with metastatic cancer. After eight rounds of chemo and surgery, his family thought they could start a life with their child. Sadly, his cancer did not go away; shortly after his second birthday, Will was diagnosed with stage IV neuroblastoma, and his doctors told his family that his cancer was incurable. Will has been receiving chemotherapy non-stop since his diagnosis in March of 2005. So, if you ask today how Will is doing, his family will answer “GREAT!” But if you ask “What is Will’s prognosis?” then the answer is anything but great; this tumor will eventually kill him. |
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Max's Ring of Fire Max Mikulak was born on June 30, 2001. He was diagnosed with stage IV, high-risk neuroblastoma in October 2004. He whizzed through frontline treatment and by the following summer was effectively on the road back to a "normal" life - albeit with almost total hearing loss, a new immune system, and about 10 pounds to gain back, all courtesy of Mr. Chemo. Unfortunately, Max relapsed (as most high-risk NB patients do) in November 2006. Max fought bravely, entering a clinical trial in Vermont where he received nifurtimox in combination with other chemo agents. This combination diminished the disease until there was just one tiny spot still evident on his spine. But in February 2008, the beast came roaring back and despite everything his family tried, Max passed away on August 31, 2008. |
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The Ishan Gala Foundation Ishan Gala was born on August 28, 2006, and lived a little over a year as a healthy child who gave his parents incredible joy. After a trip to India in December 2007, he experienced vomiting, diarrhea, and fevers that came and went, and doctors couldn’t explain why. After multiple visits to the doctor, tests, and even treatment for Salmonella, his fever persisted, and his family took him to a specialist at University of Virginia Hospital. In mid-February, Ishan was diagnosed with Stage IV Neuroblastoma with NMic amplification. His family moved him to Sloan-Kettering in New York in mid-March. Over the next seven months, he underwent two major surgeries, seven cycles of chemotherapy, an arsenal of drugs and medications, numerous scans, and bone marrow aspirations. The hospital became home and the team of doctors and nurses became family, but Ishan’s parents tried to keep his life as normal as possible. One day after his second birthday, Ishan’s parents heard the heartbreaking news: "We are sorry, there is nothing else we can do." They still didn’t give up, but on September 6, 2008, Ishan left this world to enter one where he would never suffer again. |
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Superbub's SuperHeroes Braeden (SuperBub) was born on May 12, 2005, and was a healthy, growing boy until he began to show some concerning neurological symptoms. After six weeks of doctors and tests, Braeden was diagnosed with stage III high risk neuroblastoma and opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome on May 15, 2007. He did amazingly well through all his up-front treatment and was getting back to being a kid when he relapsed in August, 2008. Despite more treatment, his disease progressed, but surgeons removed all visible tumor again in October, 2008. Unfortunately, only a month later his tumors had reappeared on scans, along with affected lymph nodes and a spot on his bladder. In just short time, the tumors grew so much they were causing his remaining kidney to fail. More treatments didn't slow the cancer's growth and Bub came home from the hospital on hospice care in February, 2009. He spent a wonderful two months at home with his family before being healed in heaven on April 18, 2009. |
