Help and Hope Happen Here

When Eric Rodriguez was 15 years old, he was diagnosed with an Optic Glioma. A few years later, he developed lesions in his mouth which turned into Squamous Cell Carcinoma, a cancer that was found in his head and neck. Eric was able to go into remission for 13 years, but then his cancer returned and he passed away on December 29th of 2021. 

Eric's mother Anita will talk about the life that Eric led , the impact that he had on others,  and the legacy that he left behind. She will also discuss the Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk, which is the largest participatory event that the Jimmy Fund sponsors.  This event will take place this Sunday October 2nd and Anita, family members, and friends, will be walking together as members of BEYOND CANCER to raise money in honor and memory of Eric.

When Erin Stern was a teenager in San Diego, she worked one summer at a camp for Pediatric Cancer patients. Later, she went to Harvard University where she received her Masters in Cancer Biology. While there, she decided to start her own summer camp which she named Camp Casco.  This camp  welcomes children and adolescents ages 7-17 to come for one week during the summer to enjoy all of the activities, meet new friends, and most importantly, be able to spend time having fun and not thinking about all of the protocols that they have to go through while fighting their individual cancer battles.

Back in 2012 Leslee Hacker's daughter Lauren was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. On today's podcast Leslee will talk about the very difficult treatment that Lauren went through at that time , resulting in her getting into remission for 3 years. Then on the night of Lauren's 14th birthday party in 2016, Leslee received the dreaded call that Lauren had relapsed, this time with a myeloid sarcoma in her leg.

After surgery and more chemotherapy , Lauren left the hospital in July of 2016 and has been cancer free for the last 6 years.

Leslee will also talk about her non profit Lolo's Angels which in its infancy included a meeting with Taylor Swift and Joe Biden. Her non profit has done a great deal to help Pediatric Cancer patients who have suffered from various forms of this disease. 

Melissa Wilson started her career as a News Anchor in 2000 and has been at Fox 26 in Houston , Texas for the past 20 years,  where she serves as both a News Anchor and Medical Reporter. Melissa is a many time award winner including receiving multiple Emmy's. 
Melissa is also the mother of 15 year old Caleb, who is now a long term survivor after his battle with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia which he was diagnosed with as a 6 year old in 2013.
On today's podcast Melissa will discuss both of of her roles as a very well known media personality and mother, who was able to juggle both of these roles to the point where she kept working during Caleb's ordeal, and only missed one of his chemotherapy treatments.

Adam La Reau is the Founder of the non profit One Summit and Dianne Lynch is its Executive Director. On today's podcast, they will talk about this amazing organization, which pairs up United States Navy Seal members with Pediatric Cancer patients. The hope is  that these kids will be taught life skills that will help them through their individual cancer battles.

With Rock Climbing being the central activity, these kids learn such skills from the Navy Seals as courage, determination, resilience, and strength. These Navy Seals serve as mentors for the kids, and this mentorship can last many years, which is great news for both the Pediatric Cancer Patients, and for each Navy Seal.

Jack Hoffman was diagnosed with Brain Cancer when he was 5 1/2 years old. Eventually, the Hoffman family who lives in Nebraska, came to Boston to get treatment at Boston Children's Hospital and Dana Farber.  Jack is about to become 17 years old , he is a junior in high school, and is doing well enough that he is playing  on his high school's  football team.

Bri will also talk about the Team Jack Foundation which has focused on far reaching efforts to help in the fight against pediatric brain tumors.

Dr. Rachel Orgel was diagnosed with a Franz tumor on her pancreas when she was living in Okinawa, Japan in 8th grade. This very rare cancer is known as a Solid and Epithileal  Neoplasm of the Pancreas.  Rachel had a relapse when she was a high school junior and then again when she was a student at the University of Florida.  She had one final surgery to remove the tail of her pancreas and this has led Rachel to being cancer free for the past 18 years. 

Rachel will talk about those cancer battles, , her days as a student in which she received her Bachelor of Arts, Masters, and Doctorate from the University of Florida , her career in teaching, and her recent book entitled BUT IS IT THE BAD KIND on today's podcast.

Dr. Todd Druley  will talk about a number of subjects on today's Podcast. One of his major goals is to improve molecular diagnostics for these kids who suffer from a variety of cancers, and he will also discuss the cases with children who have Down Syndrome and have Birth Defects in relation to their chances of being diagnosed with some form of Pediatric Cancer. Recently named the Chief Medical Officer at Mission Bio, Dr. Druley will also talk about some of the advances that this company is making which  could lead to a much brighter future for these kids and their families.

Summer Germann has a background in Product Development. After her 10 year old brother Mac died from Leukemia in 2002, Summer thought for a long time about how she wanted to honor the memory of her brother. After seeing a friend's daughter who was being treated for cancer wearing a drab hospital gown, Summer decided to use her product development skills to design a new hospital gown, with a much more creative look and one which was more user friendly.

Summer designed her first BRAVE GOWN in 2015, and 7 years later, has distributed these gowns to 500,000 Pediatric Cancer patients, in nearly 380 hospitals , in 6 countries around the world. 

In 2007,  Lois Wells, the mother of Concord Carlisle High School Assistant boys soccer coach Steve Wells passed away from Ovarian Cancer. As a response, Head Coach Ray Pavlik decided to honor Steve and Lois by organizing a soccer game between Concord Carlisle and Boston Latin  which raised $8000 for the fight against this disease.
That was just the beginning. This one soccer game has became an amazing 3 day fundraiser called KICKS FOR CANCER in which High School soccer teams from across the Greater Boston area come to Concord for a one day event that lasts from 9:30 am to 10:30 PM and has even more intensity then a State Championship game. In addition there is a Pink Dance on Friday evening and Sunday there is a 5 kilometer road race in which 1800 people participated in last year.

Boys Soccer Coach Ray Pavlik and KICKS FOR CANCER Chair Trish Siefer will talk about this fundraiser on today's podcast . This event is really one of a kind and is a great example of how High School students can become passionately involved in something bigger than themselves.