While a 20 year old student at the University of Kansas in 2019 Jace Ward was diagnosed with DIPG, a Pediatric Brain Cancer that normally strikes kids who are much younger than Jace was. On today's podcast his mother Lisa will detail his life, in which Jace spent the close to 26 months after his diagnosis advocating with the clearest and strongest voice possible, that the kids who were to come after him and suffered a similar fate needed to be given the hope that there would be a better outcome than the one that he and too many other DIPG patients have paid the ultimate price for.

With everything that Jace accomplished during his more than 2 year battle, he leaves a lasting legacy and is one of the Iconic Warriors in this Pediatric Brain Cancer fight. 

Adriana Lewin's soon to be 4 year old son was diagnosed with Rhabdomayosarcoma  in November of 2019. A licensed Therapist, Adriana started the Family Chemotherapy podcast and discusses the many issues that parents go through after their child is diagnosed with any form of Pediatric Cancer. Some of the topics that Adriana discusses in today's podcast include coping with the diagnosis, toxic positivity, being ghosted, and isolation, which can happen to anyone trying to deal with what is happening with their child.  Thankfully, Adriana's son is doing well today. 

Sydney Sherwood's younger brother Billy was diagnosed with Stage 4 High Risk Neuroblastoma when he was 13 months old in 2008. Sydney is 5 1/2  years older than Billy and she will talk about his Pediatric Cancer battle, in which she there every step of the way during his fight and recovery. Sydney considers Billy to be her best friend.

During this period, Sydney became a very talented Singer and Songwriter and in 2019 she published an Extended Play entitled Beauty From Ashes and followed that up during the Pandemic by producing her first album called Headspace.

Sydney also received a golden ticket to go to Hollywood from judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan, and Lionel Ritchie after trying out for American Idol.

Sydney's goal with her music is to inspire others and she will always be involved in the cause of Pediatric Cancer, mostly through her work in the Arms Wide Open Foundation, which was started by her  well known and well accomplished Pediatric Cancer Advocate mom Dena and her father Billy.

When she was 14 years old during the summer after completing 8th grade, Dana Giordano was diagnosed with cancer in one of her ovaries. After having surgery, she completed her recovery process and then began a running career first in high school and then at Dartmouth College, where she was a 3 time All American and finished 3rd in the National Championships in the 1500 meters.  
From there Dana went on to qualify for the Olympic Track Trials in 2020 and now hosts her own Podcast,  More Than Running, which focuses on Women's Runners who have accomplished many things on the track and on the roads and have great personal stories to tell. 

Jenny and Mark Mosier's son Michael was doing all of the things that a healthy soon to be 6 year old boy was doing in August of 2014. Less than a month later, his situation and life for the Mosier's changed cruelly and dramatically when Michael was diagnosed with DIPG, the most deadly from of Pediatric Brain Cancer. 

Jenny will discuss her son's 8 month battle against this disease and how he continued to try and live his best life possible before his passing in May of 2015.
Jenny will also talk about the Chad Tough Defeat DIPG Foundation which has raised millions of dollars for DIPG research, as the hope to finally unlock the mystery of this disease continues.

Patti and Al Gustafson will talk about their son Michael, who passed away after a 5 year battle  with the pediatric brain cancer Medulloblastoma, During the late stages of his disease, Michael told his mom that he willing to give up his life "so that he could see if I can find a cure for cancer"  
I will  also speak with Dr. Angela Waanders , who will talk about the importance of post mortem brain tissue donations, which could be a game changer in the future for pediatric brain cancer patients and their families.                                                                                                                                                                                 
Advocating for these tissue donations is a major part of the Swifty Foundation which Michael was the inspiration behind, and which the Gustafson family run today as they are doing what they can to fight for these kids who receive such a difficult diagnosis. 

At the age of 14 in 2014, Sara Willis was diagnosed with a form of Brain Cancer known as Bifocal Pure Germinoma. Her mother Angie will talk about her daughter and what Sara went through to in the 1st year of her treatment, which led to being in remission one year later.
Unfortunately, Sara relapsed and passed away in November of 2018 when she was 18 years old.
After her passing in 2019, Angie started the Non -Profit Sara's Acts of Kindness, which has twin objectives of raising money for Brain Cancer research, and in performing simple acts of kindness which is what Sara would have wanted most.

Eric Newman was diagnosed with a very rare from of Liver Cancer when he was 3 years old. His cousins Shannon and Nicole, at 3 years old and 5 years old respectively, also were diagnosed with cancer with both eventually passing away. Eric will talk about how these situations effected him and some of the difficult times he endured, especially as a long term survivor in 2008.

Always maintaining Hope however, Eric started the Roc Solid Foundation which builds play sets for Pediatric Cancer patients, and also provides Ready Bags for these kids upon entering the hospital for their individual cancer treatments. 

Nick Giallourakis's brother Steven is a 4 time cancer survivor, a journey which began when he was 15 years old. As a result of that, the Giallourakis family started the Steven G Cancer Foundation. 
Nick decided to add to his family's efforts by starting his own non-profit, Elephants and Tea.
This non- profit focuses on the adolescent and young adult cancer population, which is a group which can go unnoticed as it falls right between the lives of  Pediatric and Adult cancer patients.
Nick will talk about his novel organization which publishes a beautiful quarterly magazine, written by patients and others who have a direct knowledge of what it is to experience a difficult disease at such a difficult time in their lives. 

Dr. Michael Jensen has been working on Cart T Cell Therapy for many years, and his work is proving to be very beneficial for pediatric cancer patients who have leukemia. This type of therapy is very much in the forefront for future types of treatment, and his hope is that some day there will be a time when children can receive far less toxic medicines that lead to a far less painful cure .