Will and his Grammy, Mary Pat Mack, are raising $ to fight childhood cancer at the St. Baldricks event on March 11th in Bolingbrook in honor of Addison Haughian and Megan Bugg!

Addison is a 5th grade classmate of Will's at Liberty. We met the Haughians through school activities and Addison's mom, Jane, is my co-worker at Sikich. Addison was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma in June 2008 after a routine visit with her pediatrician for her 1 year check-up. That was a Friday. By Tuesday, she had been at Comer Children's Hospital for 4 days. During this time she endured hours of testing, underwent a biopsy and had started her first round of chemo. After 4 months of chemotherapy she finally reached the point that surgery was an option. The wonderful doctors removed most of the remaining tumor. She was officially cancer-free. Now 9 1/2 years later she is officially cured. She has now been transferred to the long-term cancer survivor clinic at the Childrens hospital where they will monitor her for long-term effects.

Megan is a high school student from my hometown of Coal City. Over holiday break 2014, she was diagnosed with Stage 4 alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma cancer and she completed her year of treatment on January 25th, 2016. 2015 was quite a year for the Bugg family as Megan battled cancer and a tornado hit their home and displaced them for several months. After completing her treatment in early 2016, Megan began treatments and tests to determine the full extent of the side effects of the chemo and other life-saving drugs. Megan's cancer was in remission for a year when it reappeared and she continued the battle throughout 2017. Megan recently completed her latest 36 week chemo treatment protocol to address her February, 2017 relapse. When she received her final scans, Megan and her family did not receive the news they were hoping for but the good news is that the cancer is localized in her back and can be treated with proton radiation, which will start in January. The physical and mental battles for a cancer survivor and their family are a daily battle but Megan is courageous and she is surrounded by supportive family and friends. You can read more about Megan and her journey on the blog written by her dad, Kent at https://meganbuggsjourney.wordpress.com/

Please consider a donation to honor all those affected by cancer. 

Thank you!