Help and Hope Happen Here

Dana Norrod will talk about her son Corbin, who was diagnosed with Stage 3 Neuroblastoma when he was 6 months old. After some early scares about his legs and his heart, Corbin will be 10 years old in October and is doing as well as possible health wise. Dana is the Operations Manager for the Non Profit Nellies Champions For Kids and will talk about her role there, as well as talking briefly about her then 6 month old daughter Lily, who also had a serious health scare which thankfully was taken care of.

Dr. Lisa Diller has had many titles during her great career at Dana Farber and Boston Children's Hospital. These titles include being the Chief Medical Officer at Dana Farber, the Vice Chair of Pediatric Oncology at Dana Farber,  and the Director of the David Perini Quality of Life Clinic for Pediatric Cancer Survivors. On today's Podcast Dr. Diller will talk about the difficulty of Neuroblastoma, the subject of Genetic Testing for very young children, and Long Term Survivorship for pediatric cancer patients who have recovered from their cancer battles and now have to focus on how to  prosper as they move on with their lives. 

Jon and Jen Wall's son Zach was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma in January of 2021. Unfortunately this cancer had already spread to his lungs which cut Zach's chances of survival to no more than 30 percent.  Despite an above the knee amputation of his leg  and chemotherapy treatments, Zach passed away from this bone cancer on November 5th of 2021 at the age of 16 1/2.

Jon and Jenn have found the strength since Zach's passing to become involved in the cause of Pediatric Cancer as they are starting a program called Peer Coaching, which will allow them to speak with and help other parents who are going through what they went through during the latter stages of Zach's all too short life. 

After being diagnosed with the pediatric brain cancer Medulloblastoma in 2004, Elizabeth Allen was able to survive her battle and move on to where she is now a graduate student at Tufts University, where she is studying nutrition, epidemiology, data science, and public health. Elizabeth will discuss the fact that of the many important facets of Pediatric Cancer and how they affect these kids, the subject of Nutrition is not prioritized and is not really talked about with any regularity. 

Sharon Snyder's 2 year old son Kyle passed away after an 8 month battle with High Risk T Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in 2001.  Sharon's response to the passing of her beloved son was to start the Kisses For Kyle Foundation which has helped 500 families since its inception. On today's podcast, Sharon will talk about the too short life of Kyle and her foundation which has 2 missions, one of which is financial and the other involves personal contact with families. Sharon will talk about some of the 22 programs that she has started to help families and of course their children who have gone through similar experiences to what Sharon and her family went through over 20 years ago.

Hayley and Justin Dickens 4 year old daughter Kallie passed away from Pediatric Brian Cancer on May 7th of this year, exactly 2 months before we recorded this podcast.  Hayley and Justin of course are still very much in the grieving process, but still wanted to talk about their beloved daughter and what she went through before her passing. 
With amazing class and dignity Hayley and Justin were able to talk in detail about Kallie's ordeal, as they try to move forward in their lives with their younger daughter Kora.

While playing soccer for her high school team as a sophomore in 2010, Hanna Jorgenson felt pain in her right hip. This hip pain turned out to be Osteosarcoma.  After a grueling 8 month treatment protocol that included amputations of her right leg, hip, and half of her pelvis, Hanna was declared free of cancer. She went on to graduate from high school and while at the University of Minnesota Duluth, joined the sled hockey team. Hanna was good enough that she became a member of the Women's National Sled Hockey Team and played 4 years for them.
Now 28 years old and 12 years past her Osteosarcoma diagnosis, Hanna is happily married, working full time, and contributes to the cause of Pediatric Cancer by volunteering at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester , Minnesota.

Jim and Dori Sexton's 3 year old son passed away from Neuroblastoma in 1993 after an intense 9 month treatment protocol. Disappointed by the lack of research that became apparent to Jim during his son's pediatric cancer fight, Jim and Dori started the Neuroblastoma Children's Cancer Society Non Profit in 1994.  Their non profit is now approaching 30 years of helping kids and their families deal with various aspects of Neuroblastoma.

After originally being thought to have a mild form of Cerebral Palsy in 2018,   Max McElhatton, the son of Jamie McElhatton was given the correct diagnosis of the Pediatric Brain Cancer Pilositic Astrocytoma. Jamie will talk about Their son Max and about the 60 Minutes piece which details the shortages of important pediatric cancer drugs Visticrine and Vinblastine and the reason for these shortages. They also will talk about a "Loose Coalition" of people that They would like to put together who have trouble gaining access to the powers that be in Washington D.C.

After an incorrect diagnosis of Mild Cerebral Palsy,  Jamie McElhatton's  now 8 year old son Max was diagnosed with the Pediatric Brain Cancer Pilositic Astrocytoma in 2018. Jamie will talk about  this and about a 60 minutes piece that aired on May 22nd by Bill Whitaker that talked about the drugs Vincristine and Vinblastine, and the shortages of each of these drugs that are important to Pediatric Cancer patients.