Help and Hope Happen Here

Elaine Kay 's son James was diagnosed with Peripheral Neuroectodermal Tumor Ewing's Sarcoma in February 2005. This cancer is so rare that only 26 people before James had ever had a diagnosis of this form of cancer. 
Elaine will talk about her son's recovery and will also discuss her role as the Director of the non profit Rally Nashville Foundation and the success that it has had in funding research for new medicines, and in creating an environment that has established it as an important part of the Nashville community. 

Joe Bullock was diagnosed with stage 3 Colon Cancer at the age of 50 in 2018. Joe is now fully healthy and has dedicated his life to helping children, adolescents, teenagers, and their families deal with a cancer that is normally found in much older people. Joe will discuss his non profit Colontown Jr. which is  set up to help those who are suffering from the crushing reality of Pediatric Colon Cancer, and he is currently working with 13 families who are trying to understand and cope with a diagnosis given to their children which is so rare. 

Meredith Gaffney's younger sister Madeline was diagnosed with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia in 2009. Meredith will talk about her role as an older sister and sibling during  Madeline's illness, including how she herself had to fight off some very normal and real emotions including some resentment at times, and being on the "backburner" of the family dynamic on occasion.

What has resulted is a much more independent and self confident woman  who has always been the best possible sibling, and has taken her love for helping others to her current profession of teaching. 

The role of a sibling can be a very difficult one during their brother or sister's pediatric cancer battles. Olivia Tomoff, whose brother Ryan had been diagnosed with cancer 5 times beginning in 1996 when he was 2 years old, will talk about her very important position as Ryan's sister and sibling, as she was involved in a most positive way in many aspects of Ryan's recovery.

Olivia considers Ryan to be her hero and they both fill the role of being each others biggest cheerleader. 

Mary Ann Massolio saw her son pass away at the age of 9 from Non Hodgkins Lymphoma, only 6 months after being diagnosed with a cancer that normally has a very high cure rate. 

As a Pediatric Oncology Social Worker in Tampa Florida, Mary Ann had been involved in non profits for many years and then became the Director of the 1 Voice Foundation. After thinking about an idea that she had, in 2011 Mary Ann began the lengthy work of planning and putting together the 1 Voice Academy, which is the first school in the nation to be designed solely for Pediatric Cancer Patients. This school officially opened earlier this September, after a more than 10 year process. 

Mary Ann will talk about both her son Jay and the 1 Voice Academy, which hopefully will be just the first of many schools to offer parents an opportunity to enroll their normally stay at home children into a place with the proper type of environment for both health and learning.

Dr. Shani Fox  had a well established business career before she decided to leave the corporate world and go to medical school.  Eventually she became a Cancer Survivorship Expert and a Life Mastery Coach. Dr. Shani ( as she likes to be called) will discuss issues such as overcoming the number one problem for cancer survivors which is FEAR. She will also talk about relationships, guilt, siblings and the WHY ME question.

Although Dr. Shani works with adult cancer survivors, there are many similarities with the concept of survivorship with both adult cancer and pediatric cancer survivors. 

Kelly Goddard's 10 month old daughter Riley was diagnosed with Glioblastoma a brain cancer that is so rare for infants , that only 10 to 20 cases are found each year in people so young. After hearing that Riley's prognosis was for a 1-2 year lifespan,  Kelly did as much research as possible and found a neurooncologist from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital who thought that Riley could be cured. Kelly and Riley spent seven months in Memphis for Riley's treatment, and now 9 months after her treatment has been completed, Kelly was told that Riley had No Evidence Of Disease and she hit all her physical marks at her 2 year old checkup.

Kelly will also talk about her critical role as the Health Navigator for the National Pediatric Foundation.

Beginning when she was 12 years old, Ali Hornung has taken the role of being an advocate for Pediatric Cancer patients to a new level. She has raised over $200,000 for these kids , started a small business called Miracle Masks in which she created 2500 facemasks with the proceeds going to different pediatric cancer organizations, and started and is the CEO of the Glimmer Of Hope Foundation , in honor and memory of a young woman named Ella Enteglia, who passed away 2 years ago from Leukemia at the age of 14. 

There are a number of other accomplishments that you will hear about in this podcast.

This totally remarkable young woman is really just getting started, as Ali just entered her senior year at the University of Rhode Island. It should not surprise you to know that she is a triple major. 

Within the last 4 years Sarah Milberg has taken on the roles of being a Co Chair for the Alliance for Childhood Cancer and as the Director of Government Relations for the St. Baldrick's Foundation. Sarah will discuss these roles and will also talk about her former position as an aide to Missouri Congressman Russ Carnahan, who served in Washington from 2005-2012.  Sarah also gives us great information of some of the innerworkings of trying to deal with Congress, and some of the obstacles that exist while trying to being an advocate for Pediatric Cancer. 
 

Liam Witt lost his battle against Neuroblastoma in 2011 after a 4 year fight against this form of Pediatric Cancer. His mother Gretchen will talk about Liam's life and the non profit Cookies For Kids Cancer which she and her husband Larry started in 2008 in response to the medicine protocols that Liam and other children had to endure during their cancer treatments.

This non profit has had over 13,000 grassroots fundraisers in all 50 states and in 20 countries, has raised $17 million dollars, and has been able to award 110 research grants which have helped to create newer treatments, helping these kids look towards a brighter and healthier future.