Meet Owen!

Our July Cancer Cutie is this brave beautiful boy Owen and he needs all our love, prayers and donations. 

Stay strong Owen we love and adore you! Here is his story below.

 April 27, 2015

This is the story of Owen, my 18 month old nephew.  Both daddy and mommy are Veterans of the United States Army and need your help.

No one can explain their circumstance better than what comes from his Owen’s mother’s heart. 

 

We appreciate as many prayers as we can get.  Please visit our fund raiser at gofundme.com/Owens-Expense. Owen needs to be transported by flight from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to Boston, Massachusetts as soon as possible.  

        I just wanted to take a moment to thank every last one of y’all.  The support we have been shown has enabled us to push through the most difficult time of our lives, one day at a time; sometimes hour by hour.  From the time he was born until recently, Owen never displayed any signs of illness.  Those of you who know me would agree because I have smothered Facebook with enough pictures since day one (I tend to be a lil obsessive), but there wasn’t a single symptom.  

        One month ago, almost to the day, I put Owen to bed and within minutes he threw up.  All day he had been fine, so instinctively I began to dread a stomach bug making its way through my house.  Long story-short, Owen wasn’t getting any better, and no one else was getting sick.  He began vomiting more frequently until it became a constant occurrence.  He was lethargic, and couldn’t even keep the anti-nausea medication down when we brought him back to the ER for the third time.  At that point (day 14) Owen had lost 8 lbs. (1/3 of his total body weight) and was extremely dehydrated.  Tommy and I came with an overnight bag and assured them that we were not leaving until they told us something other than “there’s a nasty bug going around”.  We were eventually sent to Children’s Hospital in Oklahoma City for further evaluation.  We were not in any way prepared for what came next.

The mysterious stomach bug turned out to be an advanced stage of brain cancer!  They were as delicate as they could be, but there’s no gentle way to explain:

You’re beautiful baby boy has a rare form of brain cancer that has now spread throughout his spine as well.

His case is exceptionally difficult because rather than one large mass, he has hundreds of tiny tumors that divide and spread rapidly.

His tiny body can’t sustain the amount of radiation that would be needed; therefore survival is a long shot depending solely on his ability to withstand high doses of chemo that will make him far worse than with standard rounds.

        Devastated doesn’t begin to cover it, but we refuse to give up hope.  Percentages mean nothing to me because he is still here with us today in spite of having endured 4 surgeries (2 brain, 1 chest, 1 back) this week.  Our entire focus HAS to be on him if we are going to see him through this and that is ALL I care about at this point…seeing him through regardless!

        The donations that have been so generously given to us mean more to me than I could ever express.  They have allowed me to pursue the absolute best Children’s Hospital in the country for pediatric brain cancers, and there is no way to repay the hope that brings me.  I know I cannot do this on my own, and I am eternally grateful that I have not had to!  

We love you all for the prayers and compassion for my precious poopsie!    

                                                              ~April (Mommy)

                                      

You can make a difference and donate to Owen at www.psiadoreyou.com

Every penny of your donation will go to this Brave little boy!

                                                                                                                            

In memory of Afton

We are heartbroken to hear that our Cancer Cutie for the month of June passed away on May 24th. When we received Afton's story we knew we needed to feature her and share her positivity and courageous fight with cancer. Afton was one remarkable beautiful lady. We are sharing her story and will continue to collect donations for her family. All our love and prayers are with the Wallace family at this difficult time. 

This month of June lets pay it forward. Live each day as if it was your last. Keep Afton's memory alive and pay it forward.

Afton Wallace is a vivacious young woman, full of life and full of vigor. She faces each day with a smile and her influence has been great! With thousands of followers on her Facebook page and thousands more in her local community, she has touched so many lives. She says, “when you have a video and it’s been viewed 5,000 times or it’s reached over 20,000 people… it’s very impactful,” she said. “It’s like wow, something that is happening in my life is — well people comment and say how much it impacts them and how much it inspires them, and it’s really cool for me.” Afton said the feedback she’s gotten from social media reminds her to stay positive. “It helps me a lot to be like ok, I need to put a smile on my face because this isn’t just about me,” she said. “I’m helping other people with my trials and my willingness to stay positive about this.”

The initial diagnosis:

May 25 2014. Another gut wrenching day. After 8 weeks and 8 doctors trying to solve the cause of her pain in her hip, Afton received the diagnosis that she has a form of bone cancer named Ewings Sarcoma.This cancer is very aggressive and has spread throughout her body. Although treatable, it metastasized and spread throughout her entire abdominal region with spots in her liver, spleen, and other internal organs. The main cancer is in her pelvic bone but has spread to the skull, and spine as well. Those in the skull are the most worrisome. One is pressing on the top of the brain and the other near the pituitary gland, causing slurred speech and potential endocrinological issues. Treatment started immediately to try to reduce the tumors so she could be free of the pain….

Since Afton was diagnosed, she has spent 

120 days in the hospital, undergone 45 radiation treatments and received 70 doses of chemotherapy. Regardless that many of these treatments took place nearly 3 hours from her home, She's had hundreds of visitors.

                                               

May 2015: After being crowned homecoming queen, named Miss Warren Central High School, chosen as class favorite and voted captain of the swim team, we got the devastating news that not only was the treatment not working, but in the past 6 weeks her tumors have tripled in size and have dramatically increased in number. There are no further standard treatment options available and the tumors are growing so fast they do not believe we will have enough time for her body to recover enough from the latest chemo and radiation treatments for her to qualify for a clinical trial. In fact, they feel that she less than 3 months to live. 

Even with this heart-wrenching news, Afton kept on at it. Her motto has been "Just Keep Swimming". When she first went to the hospital and was paralyzed, she immediately started doing dips on her walker. She should have been paralyzed, but she fought through the pain and is walking. 

Her dream is to attend college this fall. Cancer hasn't stopped her from taking numerous AP classes, scoring a 33 on her ACT and receiving a full-tuition scholarship from Brigham Young University. 

We pray for her to find release from the pain and to know that we've done all we can do to take care of her and that she will be happy.

You can donate here www.psiaodreyou.com and every penny of your donation will go to her family. Afton,Thank you for teaching us courage and strength.