Hi! my name is Ben. I am 10 years old. I take kids cancer very seriously. A kid is diagnosed with cancer every 3 minutes. My hope is to earn enough money that they can uncover cancers secrets and they can reverse kids cancer forever. Please donate to the cause!
Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
UPDATE: I met my goal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can still donate, even after i shave my head. Every dollar helps kids with cancer.
This year I am honoring Carter A. Here is his story.
Carter A, was born November 1, 2010. He was a bright, happy child beloved by all who knew him and became a wonderful big brother when his little sister Taylor was born a few years later. He really enjoyed playing T-Ball, waving to the stands as he trotted out to the plate, and sliding into every base! He loved going to Disneyland and dancing to his parents’ favorite ska band which played frequently at Tomorrowland Terrace. He was instantly adopted by the large group of fans who showed up at every concert and soon came to recognize him as the little boy with the huge noise-cancelling headphones and a big smile on his face. The band, Suburban Legends (AKA “BuBu Legends”) also became a fan of this sweet, enthusiastic kid dancing in the circle or standing at the stage, and they often threw him a guitar pick.
Carter’s idyllic life changed drastically on October 2, 2015, when he was diagnosed with A.L.L. (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia) – seemingly out of the blue! His dad had noticed a couple of very tiny bruises when he and my daughter were giving him a bath, and the following afternoon he decided to have the pediatrician check them out. There had been no other indicators that anything was wrong. Carter was given a blood test and sent home sporting a superhero bandage he proudly showed off. That same evening his parents got a rather disconcerting phone call from the pediatrician advising them to take Carter to CHOC (Children’s Hospital of Orange County) for further testing ASAP. By the following morning he had been given a definitive diagnosis, a lumbar puncture, and had a super port installed above his heart which was meant to stay in place for the next 3 ½ years of treatment. Though we were devastated by this shocking turn of events, we felt more reassured after an almost 2 hour long meeting (late on a Friday afternoon!) in which the treatment plan was explained and we were told that this was the “best” and most treatable form of leukemia with an 85-95% cure rate. We really liked Carter’s doctor and knew he was in great hands at CHOC. And until the day he died, a month short of his 7th birthday, we were absolutely positive he would recover!
Carter soon made himself known at CHOC where the staff was amazed to see this joyful, energetic spirit roaming the halls and befriending everyone he met. Because Halloween was coming soon, someone decided to bring him a Captain America costume, since he and this superhero both shared the same initials. Once Carter came home, there were many changes that had to be made and many new restrictions. Everyone had to leave their shoes at the door and wash their hands as soon as they came inside. Carter was not to be around crowds of people or to travel more than 30 minutes away from a children’s hospital. And he had to be very careful not to get his port wet or dislodged, which could prove instantly fatal. There would be no more plane rides to Washington to visit his other grandmother, aunt, and uncle nor to Indiana to visit his great-grandmother, no more trips to the family cabin in Big Bear 2 ½ hours away, and no more trips to Disneyland. He could not go swimming at the beach or in the community pool across the street, nor even take a trip to the grocery store. His whole life revolved around his treatment and was an endless series of blood draws, infusions and lumbar punctures, chemo, and steroids. Everything depended on what his immunity counts were, which made it very difficult to make plans of any type. The very chemo that kills the cancer cells also kills the white blood cells, leaving very little (or sometimes nothing) with which to fight off any other disease or infection that comes along. Chemo also wipes out all immunizations that were given previously, leaving kids extremely vulnerable.
In January, 2016, we celebrated the wonderful news that there were zero detectable cancer cells in Carter’s system!!! A few months later, Carter entered the Maintenance phase of treatment, which involved fewer visits to CHOC and less frequent procedures other than routine blood draws and monthly lumbar punctures. He still took multiple oral chemo pills every day. During his two year battle, Carter and his family were active members in the childhood cancer community and developed a tremendous support system. They also provided support for other children and families fighting this insidious disease. Carter was given many special opportunities during treatment and received a number of honors. He was the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Boy of the Year for Orange County and the Inland Empire, was chosen along with four other kids to appear in the CHOC Walk fundraiser video, and was the Kindergartener of the year for his school district. He was officially signed to the Chapman University baseball team through Team IMPACT and became an inspiring and beloved team member, going to practices, fielding balls and running the bases, and sitting in the dugout during games. He was their best cheerleader!
We were all in complete shock when we learned on July 5, 1917, that Carter had relapsed and this time there were cancer cells in his spinal fluid. This meant that he had to start the 3 ½ year treatment all over again, this time with a much more intense protocol. He was given one week to complete as much of his summer “Bucket List” as possible before going back to CHOC in-patient, and he did! Again, nobody who saw him that summer would have believed he was sick. He still had so much energy and kept that smile on his face. Unfortunately, toward the end of what was to be the most difficult and painful in-patient stay, Carter never bounced back the way he always did before when his immunity counts were at zero. He had nothing left with which to battle when he contracted mucormycosis, a fungal infection discovered only after the autopsy. He passed on October 8, 2018, leaving all who knew him completely devastated, including the entire staff at CHOC. His Memorial Celebration of Life was attended by more than 750 people! People who never even met him but who have followed him through his mother’s nightly journal/blog have shared that they have been inspired to be brave and hustle kindness in his honor. We are only left to wonder what more this sweet boy would have accomplished if he had been allowed to grow up!
Thank you for supporting research into childhood cancer research through your donation to St. Baldrick’s. Some people may have believed that CAR-T, the blood cancer treatment approved this summer, has made further research less necessary, but this is not true. That treatment is incredibly expensive with serious side effects, and is only for children who have exhausted all other treatment options. Carter was never a candidate for this particular treatment because he never had lymphoblasts in his bone marrow and seemed to be doing so well. The reality is that Carter and many other children we know did NOT die from Leukemia, but from the TREATMENT. (Carter was actually in remission again soon after his relapse.) Pediatric Cancer research gets only 4% of the federal cancer budget, so clearly there is a dire need for more funding. I pray that a true miracle cure is found soon so that no other child and no other family will have to go through this agony!
Help me fund kids cancer research for kids like Carter!
