Help and Hope Happen Here

Lara and Kevin Weberling's son Hans was diagnosed with Stage 4 High Risk Neuroblastoma when he was 3 years old in 2006. On today's podcast Lara and Kevin will talk about the nearly 6 year battle that Hans fought against this form of Pediatric Cancer, before passing away in September of 2012 at the age of 9. 

Lara and Kevin went to hospitals in both Texas and California as they did everything possible to help Hans, who had multiple relapses during his  fight before his cancer progressed to its final stages in the summer of 2012. 

Lara and Kevin will also talk about what they have done to honor the life of Hans and what they hope to do for the cause of Pediatric Cancer and Neuroblastoma in the future. 

Angela Lee was playing basketball on her school team as a 13 year old in 1984 when she first noticed swelling near her neck. After her basketball coach told her that the swelling was not normal Angela  went to get it checked out and was immediately put into the hospital with an eventual diagnosis of Stage 2 Hodgkins Lymphoma. 

Her treatment included 50 radiation sessions and a conclusion from her oncologist that because of this treatment , Angela would have a number of late effects from her cancer battle. This correct statement has been proven out over the years  with Angela's battles with her thyroid, blockages in two carotid arteries, women's issues, and a recent Stage 1 Breast Cancer diagnosis.

Through it all Angela has survived quite nicely for the past 38 years, as she originally became her own patient advocate and took that to the next level and beyond as she is now a very active advocate for many patients in the Pediatric Cancer field . 

On today's podcast Dr. Lianna Marks will talk about her role as a Pediatric Cancer oncologist who specializes in Lymphoma at the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford University. She will specifically discuss the case of 17 year old Mia Gatanaga, a high school honors student  who was admitted there in the fall of 2021 after being diagnosed with Primary Mediastinal Large B Cell Lymphoma.

Dr. Marks will talk about Mia who was in the hospital for 4 months while in treatment, how she is doing today, and the bright future that she sees for this form of Pediatric Cancer as far as being able to help these patients lead lives that are full and productive.

Austin Atteberry noticed when a beautiful woman named Sara moved right next door to him in Nashville, Tennessee in 2010. Austin found out that she worked as a Child Life Specialist at Vanderbilt Hospital and Sara found out that he was a Singer- Songwriter. Sara invited Austin to the hospital, told him to bring his guitar and she would introduce him to some of the kids who were patients.

As we turn the clock ahead 12 years  Sara and Austin are married, have three children and Austin is the founder and Executive Director of the SING ME A STORY FOUNDATION. Austin will talk about this non-profit, which  invites songwriters to read stories written by Pediatric Cancer patients and other kids battling diseases or other maladies, turn these stories into songs free of charge , and distribute them back to these kids, their families, and organizations which bring happiness to these kids who are going through so many difficulties,

Over 5000 songwriters have participated in this venture and 1200 kids have benefitted from it. This Foundation promises even bigger things to come as time goes on.

Jared Branfman was diagnosed with Spinal Cancer in 2003, when he was 21 years old and an Adolescent and Young Adult patient. After a two year battle, his disease spread to his brain and he unfortunately passed away in September of 2005. 
On today's podcast, his father Steven will talk about the life that Jared led, which while all too short, was full of accomplishments as he brought joy to so many people
Steven will highlight his family's passion for bicycling which began while Jared was 4 years old. A year before Jared's passing the Branfman's became involved in the Pan Mass Challenge which is a bicycle event that is considered the largest private charity in the world and benefits cancer patients. Since the mid 2000's Team Kermit, which was named for the frog and was Jared's favorite character growing up, has raised over 6 million dollars for research to help so many kids in their individual cancer fights. 
A good amount of this 6 million dollars has helped cancers very similar to what Jared had, and that if Jared had the benefit of this research back in the early 2000's, he very well might be alive today.

Brian and Angie Perry's son Ethan was diagnosed with T Cell Lymphoblastic Lymphoma on July 30th of 2020, just after he turned 12 years old. At the very end of 2020 and into 2021 Ethan's cancer, which normally has a very good cure rate, began to spread rapidly and he very unfortunately passed away on March 25th of 2021. 

Brian and Angie will talk about their beloved son, the Caring Band that he wore during his treatment, and what they are doing now and will be doing in the future to help other Pediatric Cancer patients and their families. 

Kathy Derr lost her son Christopher to an inoperable brain tumor in the early 1990's and in 1995 co-founded the Non-Profit A KID AGAIN. Along with Susan Gilbert whose family joined this non-profit in November of 2020 after Susan's daughter Ali was diagnosed with Leukemia in July of that year, they will talk about the wonderful work that this non profit does, as it has helped more than 200,000 people since its inception, including more than 12,000 in the past year.
This Non-Profit focuses on Family Adventure Days, as it tries to promote normalcy even for a short time to kids who have been diagnosed with a variety of life threatening conditions , including Pediatric Cancer. 

When Laura Bray's daughter Abby was undergoing treatment for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia she needed a drug called Erwinaze, which was in short supply. Laura came to find out that  Pediatric Cancer drug shortages were happening far too many times. She got to work, solved Abby's problem in 10 days and then started her ANGELS FOR CHANGE Non Profit. This Non- Profit has been working over the past several years to help solve this shortage issue as 75 percent of the 20 most common drugs used for Pediatric Cancer patients have been through shortages over the past 5 years. The average time that these drugs are in  short supply is 15 months. 
Laura has taken on this challenge of basically being one voice to advocate for these kids to solve this more than critical issue with her ANGELS FOR CHANGE organization. 

Dr. Archie Bleyer is a well known and highly respected member of the Cancer Community.  On today's podcast Dr. Bleyer will talk about his 10 years as the Chair of the Children's Cancer Group in the 1990's and some of the accomplishments that he oversaw during this time period. Dr. Bleyer will then discuss his focus that began over 20 years ago on the issues that the "forgotten" age group of 18-39 Adolescents and Young Adults that are diagnosed with different forms of cancer each year have to deal with. In the United States, there are 90,000 AYA's that fall into this category. 

After noticing a weakness on the left side of her face, Tiffany McConathy and her husband Jeremy took their 9 month old daughter Nora to her Pediatrician in September of 2021. Nora's 1st diagnosis was Bell's Palsy. Six weeks later as Nora was feeling worse, Nora went back to the doctor and this time they were going to put tubes in her ears.
Tiffany then insisted on an MRI and finally the 3rd of 4th doctor that Tiffany had spoken with agreed to it.
What followed was a diagnosis of a very rare Brain and Spinal Cord tumor called ETMR. 5 months later Nora passed away as the doctors decided not to complete the treatment that she needed to at least give her a fighting chance, because Nora had Covid, with her main symptom being sneezing. 
After Nora passed away Tiffany was denied the opportunity to get a Research Autopsy again because of Covid, even though the CDC did not have a policy that  an autopsy like this could not be performed.
Nora will also talk about the Nora's Princess Warrior's Foundation that she and Jeremy started to honor the memory of Nora, which is just in its infancy.