How St. Baldrick’s Helped Me Get Through Childhood Cancer Treatment
Nothing about fighting cancer is easy, and it doesn’t help being a lone adult in the pediatric cancer ward. As a 25-year-old diagnosed with pediatric osteosarcoma, Mina Schultz found herself sinking into depression with no end in sight — until she went to a St. Baldrick’s event. Mina shares her story.
Mina, left, smiles with a friend. She is now four years post-treatment for osteosarcoma.
Stay Positive: Tori’s Story
Honored Kid Victoria, nicknamed Tori, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma just over a year ago. Now the 9-year-old is back playing basketball with her friends, which is her favorite thing to do. “I learned a lot from her this year, just about being positive, sticking with it, trying not to let things get me down and trying to find the good in stuff,” said her mom, Erika. “She taught us all a lot, I think, just being so strong.”
Tori smiles alongside her stuffed monkey as she’s prepped for surgery.
Armed with her megawatt smile, that was the way Tori handled everything childhood cancer threw in her way — she stayed positive.
Uncle Dave Braves the Shave for Sweet Caroline
Earlier this year we lost an exceptional smile and friend in Ambassador Caroline. Her uncle Dave Lugar describes her bright spirit, her “daily zest to look her best,” and how he’s committed to fight childhood cancers in her honor.
Osteosarcoma Survivor Shaves for Kids With Cancer
An avid athlete, Josh had a simple way of looking at his treatment for osteosarcoma — just do it. Now cancer free, Josh braved the shave in March, raising funds for vital research and cheering on other kids with cancer.
Josh went through chemotherapy and surgery for osteosarcoma. Always passionate about sports, he has played baseball since the age of three. Now entering his senior year of high school, Josh looks forward to playing baseball in college.
Josh doesn’t let anything get between him and the sports he loves, including being diagnosed with childhood cancer.
It was January of his freshman year of high school when Josh got the news that he had osteosarcoma, a cancer of the bone. The next day his basketball team had a big game.
A Bittersweet Mother’s Day
Lori Del Vecchio is the mother of two boys and a girl, Emily, who was diagnosed with childhood cancer in 2011. Emily passed away a couple days before Mother’s Day just a year later. With the holiday on the horizon, Lori reflects on how Mother’s Day has changed.
Lori with her two sons and Emily during the little girl’s Make a Wish trip.
Fundraising to the Max: Max Magilnick Hits $50,000 and Keeps Going for a Cure
The siblings of kids with cancer are heroes in their own right. Superstar fundraiser Max Magilnick is the 14-year-old brother of St. Baldrick’s Ambassador Emily. “When I started, all I thought that I was going to raise was $1,000 at the most extremely most,” he said. But while sharing his story, shaving and raising vital funds, he discovered just how powerful he could be.
Emily and Max while she was being treated for osteosarcoma.
It was the winter of 2011 and Max felt helpless. His beloved sister, Emily, had just been diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a cancer of the bone.
What could a little brother do to help?
Turns out Max could do a lot — during four years of shaving and fundraising with St. Baldrick’s he’s blown past his goal of $50,000 and raised about $63,000 for childhood cancer research.
Meet Caroline
Since she was a little girl, Caroline roamed her Texas neighborhood bearing freshly baked goods and making friends with all the neighbors. Caroline’s giving spirit and contagious grin persisted through chemotherapy, surgery, radiation and physical therapy.
Diagnosed with osteosarcoma in her right arm in January 2014, Caroline spent most of that year in the hospital in Houston. Despite the treatment, Caroline’s disease continued to progress and she died on January 9, 2015, surrounded by her loving family.
‘One Step Closer’: Emily Survives Cancer and Shaves for a Cure
After trying everything to cure her cancer, Emily was given three months to live. Then something amazing happened — her cancer went away. Read Emily’s survival story and learn why she shaves her head to raise money for childhood cancer research. (You can be a shavee℠, too!)
Emily with two of her nurses in 2008.
At the age of 11, I was diagnosed with late-stage osteosarcoma of the spine and ribs. As is typical with bone cancers, I had been having pain for a couple of months. But it wasn’t until I injured my knee rollerskating and went completely paralyzed from the waist down that doctors found a grapefruit-sized tumor that had grown into four ribs, around my spine, and into my lungs.
They found it with a simple x-ray.
2013 Ambassador Emily Reacts to ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ Movie and Book [Q&A]
The much-anticipated movie “The Fault in Our Stars,” based on the bestselling young adult novel about two teens with cancer, hits theaters today. We checked in with 2013 Ambassador Emily, 18, who spent half of her high school years fighting childhood cancer, to gauge her reaction to the book and the film and how they relate to her own experience as a teen with cancer.
St. Baldrick’s and dailyRx Google+ Hangout: Childhood Cancer in Adolescents and Young Adults [VIDEO]
We were joined by Emily and Sarah, St. Baldrick’s Ambassadors who were both diagnosed with types of childhood cancers in their teens; Dr. Brandon Hayes-Lattin, a St. Baldrick’s Infrastructure Grant recipient and Medical Director of the Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology Program at the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute; Jane Hoppen, St. Baldrick’s Foundation Director of Family Relations; and Steven Incontrera, dailyRx Director of Social Media and moderator for the Hangout.
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