Our Blake was like any typical child, only suffering from the common cold or flu bug during her first five years of life. However, the summer of 2006 proved to be a little different. After a full month in June of blastball, vacation bible school and swimming lessons, Blake's energy seemed to take a major dip. Among Cory, myself and my mother, we noticed her low energy level and decrease in appetite. Then in August she ran a fever for several intermittent weeks out of the month. Enough to tell us something wasn't right.Blake was diagnosed with cancer on Tuesday, September 5, 2006. She had Neuroblastoma, of which she was in stage 4 of the disease. Blake underwent treatment at the KU Medical Center as well as Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City.Blake started her chemotherapy treatments at KU Med in September of 2006, followed by surgery in February 2007. On May 1, 2007, Blake was admitted to Children's Mercy Hospital in KC, where she remained since having stem cell transplant on May 9, 2007.After an almost year-long battle with cancer, Blake earned her angel wings on Monday, August 13, 2007 at 6:10pm. Blake is survived by her loving family: parents - Cory & Anne, brother - Brecken, and sister - Brynn. Blake had sparkling blue eyes and unforgettable red hair. She was spunky, smart and very mature for her age. She loved music and being with her friends and family. To keep Blake's spirit alive, her family and friends have formed the Blake Bertie Cancer Foundation to promote awareness for childhood cancer and raise funds for research. The foundations number one goal is to make a difference in the lives of children with cancer. Blake is now in God's Hands...Forever in Our Hearts.

dylan had been sick for quite a while with this and that. On January 8th, his peds DX him with Mono but sent us for a full work up. Short story of things...it wasn't Mono his white count was 258,000. On Jan 10th, Dylan went into surgery to have a Central Line placed. Chemo started that night. We endured and finally finished his first induction On Jan 21rst. On Jan 16 he was diagnosed with pneumonia and had a chest tube placed. It was left until Jan 19th when it was removed. They upped his antibiotic use that weekend as he kept spiking fevers. On Jan 19th we also received the best news.... Devin (one of the twins) is a PERFECT match for Dylan. We had a bone marrow sample taken from Dylan on Feb 9 and he was not in remission. On Feb 12, he was readmitted to the hospital for a different set of chemo drugs to try toachieve remission. On March 8th, Dylan was diagnosed with a fungal infection in his lungs. We ALSO found out he is in REMISSION (2%) on March 21rst!!! Come to find out that was only a partial remission. Dylan was still 12% leukemic on his a recent bone marrow biopsy. He started another round of chemo on April 9th and they will be adding another med (Mylotarg) that he will be having on day 7th of this round. Unfortunately this round ended in disappointment for us as his bone marrow showed 30% leukemic. On June 15th, Dylan started his fourth round of chemo with ARA-C and Clofarabine. On July 15th, Dylan had ANOTHER biopsy with more positive results. He was FINALLY in an active remission at about 3 1/2% . On July 22nd, Dylan started his 5th round of chemotherapy (same as the fourth just ALITTLE stronger). Unfortunately Dylan's Bone Marrow aspiration showed about 14 % leukemic but we have decided to press on with transplant since we are out of standard chemo. SEPTEMBER 20th, 2007 Dylan had his BMT from his little brother Devin! He was HOME on October 18th, 2007 and did
REMARKABLY WELL through the WHOLE transplant procedure. On Halloween, we
received the call....Dylan is leukemic-free! Pray he stays this way forever!!! Unfortunately Dylan had relapsed 71 days out of transplant on Dec 3...with 25% leukemic blasts in hisbone marrow. We were than off to Sloan Kettering in NYC where we did a round of chemo called TVTG then getting into a clinical trial with them using NK cells! We
were always HOPEFUL AND NEVER BACKED DOWN......GO AWAY LEUKEMIA! After the
NK cells failed we tried one other clinical trial called FLT3's. Unfortunately that also
failed. April 1st Dylan came home...to spend time with his 3 younger brothers and parents.... April 25 we went to Florida on his MAW trip. July 5, 2008 our beloved Dyl passed knowing how much he IS loved. ALWAYS LOVED, NEVER Forgotten....
THANK YOU to all who have given of themselves along our journey. We appreciate it more than we could ever say.

My name is Nick and I was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, bone cancer, on July 10th 2006. I started seeing a chiropractor 4 times a week because of what we thought was injuries received when we were rear-ended leaving school in May of 2006. After a month of treatments at the chiropractor, I was getting worst not better. What started as a small bump on my back grew into what appeared to be a good size goose egg. On Friday July 8th, 2006 the chiropractor sent us to have an MRI at 9 PM. The next morning they called and wanted us back in for another MRI and a CT scan, so we went. By this time I was in extreme pain, having difficulty sitting and putting any weight on my left leg. My parents noticed that I had some atrophy in my left leg and hip. I was having shooting pains going down my left leg and numbness in my left foot, typical signs of sciatic. This is what we had thought was wrong. As it turned out the radiologist called the chiropractor and then he called us in the lobby, to tell us it appeared to look like I had a mass or a tumor in my lower back.So we went home and my Mom called my Doctor and she just happened to be on call and called back and told us to take him in immediately to Children's Hospital in Mpls. I headed on down to Mpls. With my parents my Dad was laying in the back of the vehicle with me as he is disabled and unable to sit down. After viewing the CT scans and MRI's they concluded that something was there, but what, they were not sure.I was then told it was Osteosarcoma (Chrondoblastic), a 10cm mass in the pelvis/sacrum area. I started chemo then went to Boston for 39 Proton treatments. After that I was back home for 7 more months of chemotherapy. I went into remission and then relapsed in December of 2007.I had surgery on January 30, 2008, they removed tumor from my right lung. I was then again in remission. Once again I relapsed and I now have tumors in both lungs, possibly in my lymph node and at the incision site from my last surgery. I had surgery again on October 14, 2008 to place my port back in and they then removed the tumor off of the outside of my left lung and then they removed the golf ball sized tumor that was under the incision site from my last surgery, and also removed another golf ball sized tumor in the lymph node. Currently we are in Houston, TX seeking more treatment to save my life. Please continue your prayers so I gain remission and stay in remission for the rest of my life. Thank you for all of your support my family!

Hello my name is Tanner I was diagnosed with Stage IV, High Risk, Neuroblastoma on August 2, 2006, just a few months before my 3rd birthday. I fought the battle of my life and I have finished my treatment and I am currently NED (no evident disease). My treatment included 7 rounds of chemotherapy, 10 rounds of radiation, an Autologous Stem Cell Transplant and 6 months of Accutane. I continue to go through routine scans and checkups to make sure my cancer does not return. We have been so blessed by the nurses and staff at Dell Children's Hospital of Austin, Texas, who always take that extra step to go "above and beyond", thank you! Through my entire journey I have been surrounded by my family and friends with so much love that continue to support me. I love Veggie Tales, fire trucks and am obsessed with Spiderman! I am not impressed with any medications that go in my mouth and Nurses with blood pressure cuffs or thermometers! We believe that God must have a special purpose in allowing us to walk this path, so we are holding on tight, trusting Him. We thank you for your continued prayers and support!

My name is Cyanna or CJ for short. have been battling ALL T-CELL, Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, since I was 5, February 16, 2006. I also have congestive heart failure as well.Later to follow I developed a fungal infection, Mucormicosis Fungal Infection, in my port. NO ONE HAS EVER SURVIVED IT according to Milwaukee's Children's Hospital. It spread to my heart. After 2 major heart surgeries one worse than the other and doctors telling us I was not to survive, but I did. I than developed some infection in my lungs which caused me to undergo surgery and have a large amount of lungs removed from my body. Again I struggled and fought and showed I could do it. I gradually got better where I was in remission. My heart valve that was reconstructed took to my body. My lungs have adjusted to my life and my hair grew back. Another setback, about 3 weeks later I relapsed with less than 5 months left of chemo. My leukemia came back into my spine and traveled into my brain which caused me to lose my memory a bit and my legs wouldn't work. So now I had to get a wheel chair for long distances. We put a hospital bed into my room to help me control my head level due to constant coughing and back to every week of hard chemo and spinal taps. My family hates to watch the pain and suffering I go through everyday just breaks their heart. Now that I relapsed I now have to undergo a bone marrow transfusion which we all were tested and unable to match me with me only having one full sibling. My father and I are a half match, but not full so now we have to find a donor. Our situation is all a waiting game and hopefully soon we can come to an end of this suffering so I can move on in my life and begin a normal life with my family. October 17, 2008. REMISSION, REMISSION, REMISSION THANK YOU GOD! As of November 10, 2008 we are heading to Milwaukee Wisconsin for the beginning of a Bone Marrow Transfusion. I will never be able to run a marathon, play certain sports or do things that other children can do, but it's my will power and strength that has gotten me this far. I am a miracle from God and it was my grandpa that gave my life back for he gave up his so the good lord wouldn't take his granddaughter (thank you grandpa} My fight is not over until I say it's over, but my family will be here every step of the way to get me through this tragic part of my life.

My name is Owen and I am 4 years old now. I was taken to the emergency room at Kanabec Hospital on Friday, December 15, 2007. I had a stomach and chest x-ray taken and my parents were told to go to Children's Hospital in Minneapolis for another exam in the emergency room. After a series of exams we were informed that I had some type of a tumor on my liver. After another exam we headed to pre-op where I was prepped for a CT scan. After hours of anxious waiting, it was confirmed that I did in fact have a large mass protruding from the right lobe of my liver as well as many smaller nodules on my lungs. In order to get a positive ID on the tumor, the doctors told us a biopsy would be needed.Sunday afternoon I went into surgery for a biopsy, blood work, and to have a port inserted for future chemotherapy treatments. This day was spent laughing and crying surrounded by family and friends. I was very sore after the two hour procedure, but I was a trooper throughout the rest of the day and night. Monday brought us the results of the biopsy and blood work. I had CHILDHOOD CANCER called Hepatoblastoma, Stage IV (hepato meaning liver, blastoma meaning malignant). My liver mass was about the size of a baseball while there were many smaller spots of the cancer spread throughout both of my lungs. While the findings were hard to take, we were given much hope by the doctors. Even though only about 100 new cases of this cancer presents itself in the US each year (yes, now I truly am 1 in a million!), the chemo regiment is promising. I have had 6 rounds of chemotherapy and a partial tumor resection on my liver. I have finished treatment on June 5, 2008. To date I remain NED, No Evidence of Disease! When I was diagnosed we were told that I had a 70% chance that my cancer would return. My AFP (Alpha-fetoprotein) level is up and may indicate just that. AFP is a blood test that is used to detect tumors that mark cancers of the liver, testes and ovaries. Life for us is a rollercoaster and probably will be for quite some time. On October 30th, 2008 I returned to Children's Hospital of Minneapolis for a CT Scan the results are wonderful, NED! My AFP however continues to rise, obviously not the news we were hoping for. The clear scan news was such a relief, but that AFP will keep us guessing at what's really floating around in there and IF cancer has returned and is hiding where the scan can't see it. Only time will tell. Please pray my cancer has not returned.

I was an active 14 year old when I was diagnosed with a Pinealblastoma PNET. (Primitive Neuro Ectodermal Tumor). It is a cancerous brain tumor that they could not remove through surgery. It had to be treated with radiation which resulted in a "no evidence of disease" prior to starting four rounds of high doses of chemo.I have always been VERY healthy throughout my childhood, so it has been a severe shock to all of us for me to seem so healthy and sick at the same time. We have the most awesome friends and family praying for a full recovery. The doctors have led us with every intention that I will in fact have a full recovery and lead a LONG life to come.
I finished chemo on Friday March 14th, just 5 days after my 15th b-day. I have received 31 treatments of radiation, 20 of full cranial/spinal and then 11 tumor site only boost. I had 4 high dose rounds of chemo with a stem cell rescue. I have endured 8 spinal taps along with many other procedures and treatments. I also received 4 months straight of physical therapy, to reverse all the peripheral neuropathies caused by the 8 doses of Vincristine. We had a very exciting Make-A-Wish trip April 26th to May 3rd. I chose to go on an Eastern Caribbean Disney Cruise. In May 2008 I was the Jr. Grand Marshall to our local Relay for Life. In July, we had an End of Treatment Party with 90 of my closest friends and family. July 19th I went to my first concert and had a real good time. November '08 I was an honored guest of the Philadelphia Eagles Organization, with on field practice time passes and the best seats in the house Section 101, Row 1, nothing in front of us but the players and coaches, oh and cheerleaders! October '08~ New Orleans, LA. . . Fun Mystery Trip through CHOP.We send e-hugs to each and every one of you! Your support and encouragement has really meant to world to us throughout this strange path that we are traveling on.