Hi Everyone! 

 My name is Olivia Egge and I'm 17 years old. I'm a junior at National Cathedral School and my favorite things are learning, traveling, competitive diving, and hanging out with my friends. However, something happened last year that stopped me from doing the things I love. On February 3, 2017 a tumor was found in my knee and I was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, a rare cancer that starts in the bone. I remember casually leaving school to go to the doctor, not really suspecting anything. He then told me that I needed to start aggressive chemotherapy immediately then have limb-sparing surgery that would replace my knee and half of my lower leg bone and then more chemotherapy over the course of 9 months. It was a tough time – no school, no travel, no diving, no hair and over 100 nights in the hospital. It was a long road because osteosarcoma requires more intense chemo than most other cancers and the side effects are difficult.  The good news is I'm doing well now. I'm back in school full time, hanging out with friends, travelling, have two inches of hair back, and am starting to walk again without my crutch.  

 Last year, my community did an amazing thing. They threw a party and shaved their heads and made me and my family laugh and smile for a day.  I cannot tell you how much this event meant to me – it was one of the toughest times! I was in a wheelchair, wearing a wig, and in a lot pain. This AMAZING community raised both my spirits, and the seed – over $300,000 – for this research grant. It was so great that I wanted to share this amazing experience with my friend, John Varney....

 My name is John Varney and I'm a 17 year old junior at St. John's College High School.  My favorite things are hanging with my friends, playing video games, skiing and being the manager of the SJC baseball team. However, last year after returning from a whitewater rafting trip in Utah I thought I had a sprained knee.  I went to the doctor not really suspecting anything, but the x-ray worried the doctor and he had me see a specialist the next day.  On October 6th, 2017 I learned I had a tumor in my knee and was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, a rare cancer that starts in the bone. The doctors told me that I needed to start aggressive chemotherapy immediately then have limb-sparing surgery that would replace my part of my femur, my knee, and part of my tibia.  I was also told I would need lung surgery on both my lungs. So far this year I've had all three operations, all of which have been successful.  And I am still receiving chemo at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York and I am feeling ok and getting great treatment. I'm finishing all my school work and looking forward to hanging out with friends, again.   

 Although I'm doing ok now, other kids with Osteosarcoma are not, and I want to help and encourage them. Olivia did this for me and it was really helpful. So now I want to pay it forward and get involved. I'm excited that my family and I are contributing and asking our friends to shave their heads and/or help us by forming fundraising teams. 

 We met each other because of Osteosarcoma and we are asking you to join us to fund a research grant for Osteosarcoma – this is an aggressive cancer so we need to be aggressive back. 

 Sadly, the treatment protocol and survival rate for Osteosarcoma has not changed in nearly 40 years.  We want to find better treatments so that no kid has to walk into the doctor's office and learn what we did, and then suffer through surgeries and brutal chemotherapy.  We want there to be a treatment that can give parents more certainty that their son or daughter will survive. It is unbelievable to us that we cannot do better. Now is the time that we must come together to fix this so that others don’t have to go through what we did. 

 We know how much this event means to kids and families whose lives have been changed forever by Osteosarcoma.  Thank you for all of the love and support you have sent our way and thank you in advance for joining us to fund an Osteosarcoma research grant – we need to find a cure!

 Olivia and John

 Proceeds will directly fund the Osteosarcoma Collaborative St. Baldrick's Grant to Cure Osteosarcoma. This partnership will bring much-needed research to an especially aggressive pediatric cancer that has seen no new approved treatments since the advent of chemotherapy, 40 years ago. 

RSVP at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/shavers-life-savers-to-fund-the-osteosarcoma-collaborative-st-baldricks-grant-to-cure-osteosarcoma-tickets-46039829369