This is Caleb's and our family's story, the short version.

He was just a normal 15 year old, never was a sickly kid, maybe just a few colds here and there. Then one day, a swollen lymph node that wasn't going away.

Diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma at 15.

Diagnosed with relapsed Hodgkin Lymphoma at 16. Bone marrow transplant at 16. At almost 17, a routine eye doctor appointment led to 4 brain surgeries in a month, with a new diagnosis of Ganglioglioma, a non HL related brain tumor, not able to be surgically removed because it's attached to his brain stem. He's been in and out of the hospital since December 2019.

He should have been going to school, learning to drive, getting a part time job, swimming in a pool, hanging out with his friends, having a girlfriend.

But instead, he goes to appointments, gets scans, biopsies, IV's, chest port access, heart ultrasounds, takes medicine that makes him sick, makes his hair fall out, makes him lose weight, has surgeries, eats through a tube in his stomach, has a shunt in his head.

Childhood cancer stole his last few years of high school and has changed all of our lives forever. He can never join the military, he most likely can't have children and he will spend the rest of his life visiting hospitals, never knowing if the HL will come back, or if the brain tumor is growing again.

This is what childhood cancer has done to Caleb and our whole family. We never thought this would happen, I don't think anybody does. But it does happen. And it happened to us. And it could happen to anyone.

I'm just asking whoever is reading this to please do something, anything, to raise awareness of what these kids go through, some of them alone. Turn your profile picture gold, donate to a childhood cancer non profit organization, wear a shirt, paint it on your car window, donate blood, join the bone marrow registry. Every little bit helps and gives these little guys a fighting chance.

#gogold #childhoodcancerawareness 

Why am I shaving my head with St. Baldrick’s? Because with your donation “on my head,” together, we can save lives.

Research is hope for kids with cancer, but donations to find cures have been down since 2020.

Your gift will give kids hope, supporting the best research across the country, through the largest charitable funder of childhood cancer research grants.

Cancer kills more of our kids than any other disease. I don’t want to let these kids down. Can you help? Thank you!