Help and Hope Happen Here

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 .

Carolyn Breinich was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia just before her 14th birthday in 1994. From the beginning, Carolyn experienced many setbacks along the road to recovery including a bad experience with her resident doctor while hospitalized, a sometimes hard road after returning to school, bouts of depression, and while a Child Life Specialist, hearing that her boss thought she could not do her job properly BECAUSE she was a Pediatric Cancer survivor. 

Carolyn will talk about her journey on today's podcast and the fact that she is in a good place today, a place good enough that she can honestly say that she truly loves life.  

Dena Sherwood's son Billy was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma when he was 13 months old in July of 2008. Fortunately, Billy is now thriving and a soon to be 15 year old.

Dena will talk about Billy and his very difficult early days, including a diagnosis that did not come as quickly as it should have.
She will also discuss the Arms Wide Open Childhood Cancer Foundation that she and her husband started, that has proven to be such an important part of the overall fight against Pediatric Cancer.
Included within her foundation are such well known programs as the Truth 365 and Curefest, both of  which she co founded. 

After an early childhood which included modeling and soccer, Cole Eicher was diagnosed with the Pediatric Brain Cancer Medulloblastoma when he was a 12 year old 6th grader.  As he entered the hospital , Cole noticed that there were many younger patients that were fighting their own cancer battles. He instinctively knew that this was not right and that he wanted to be a voice for these kids. 

So began the amazing advocacy work for so many children that Cole started  as a 12 year old while a patient himself,  and that this pediatric brain cancer survivor continues today. 
Cole will talk about setting up a meeting with American Cancer Society CEO Gary Reedy and  asked him to support the ideas that he had to help these children, including expanding the Relay For Life program . After Cole heard the word YES to his ideas , the Gold Together Non profit that he and his mom Laura started was well on its way.