Maurice Ahern and his family were living in China in 2010 when his 1 year old son Micah was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma. Maurice will talk about quickly moving his family to Orlando to have Micah's surgery and his 6 year ordeal fighting this disease which ended with his passing in July of 2016. Maurice will also talk about his love for the Food Industry and for Baking, which he has used for the past 7 years to help honor the memory of Micah and keep his legacy alive.  ..read more

Hearing loss is a very well known side effect and long term effect that survivors of Pediatric Cancer must be aware of, especially if they are being treated with Cisplatin during Chemotherapy, which is a very effective medicine in helping to save lives of these children and adolescents . Holly Reames and Eric Meyer, who work at Fennec Pharmaceuticals will talk about the ramifications of this hearing loss, which if it happens, is always permanent.  ..read more

Tabitha Odom thought that her 2 year old daughter Sailor might have the flu when she brought her to a Walk In Clinic in November of 2022 as she had not been feeling well. Later that night Tabitha became worried when she received a phone call at 9:00 PM and said that Sailor needed  to go to a hospital emergency room. After that she was sent to  UTMB Hospital in Galveston Texas where Tabitha was told that Sailor had B Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Tabitha will talk about Sailor's successful treatment protocol in which she is expected to complete her maintenance program in January ..read more

In April of 2023 Vickie Stevens and Don McCarthy's little son Rio was experiencing a loss of appetite, limping instead of walking, and losing energy. After a stay at a local hospital did not solve the question of what was wrong with Rio, he was transferred to a large hospital in London and was finally diagnosed with Stage 4 Neuroblastoma. Rio is now into his 8th month of treatment  and the hope is that he will at some point be able to travel to Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York to take a drug that has proven to be highly successful in treating Rio's form of Neuroblastoma . Vickie and D ..read more

After little Charlie Stevens was taken to his doctor after he developed a lesion in his right eye, it became apparent that he had too many white blood cells, but an X Ray and ultrasound showed him to be healthy in the early days of 2020. Just six weeks later Charlie was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. A very aggressive treatment protocol led to his remission that year but just before Christmas Charlie relapsed and he passed away on January 27th, of 2021, just 2 days after his 3rd birthday. Charlie's mother Kelly will talk about her beloved son, and how she has become an activist in her ..read more

Brian Burkhardt and his family left their home in Miami and went to the Florida Keys during Spring break in early in 2020 where they had to isolate because of Covid. Two days after they returned home his son Oliver was having trouble breathing which sounded like a Covid issue,  but turned out to be the Pediatric Blood Cancer Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Brian will talk about this diagnosis, Oliver's successful treatment , and the more than creative Non-Profit called the Oliver Patch Project. which Brian and his wife Trish started in Oliver's honor.  ..read more

When Vara James was 9 years old in 2016 she was diagnosed with the Kidney Cancer Wilms Tumor. Now 17 years old, Vara has been cancer free since February of 2018 and has many options to look at as she is able to live as normal of a life as possible. Vara and her mother Emily Gordon will talk about these past 8 years which include helping to start the Rock Cancer program along with Neuro Oncologist Dr. Carl Koschmann,  which gives Pediatric Cancer patients the opportunity to gain confidence and a sense of accomplishment by learning to Rock Climb.  ..read more

It took 5 years after waking up each day feeling tired and sick, but Kim Denice was finally diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma as a senior in high school in 2013. Kim will talk about the struggles that she had while she was in treatment and even to this day, as she has been cancer free for over 10 years. Kim will also talk about her involvement in the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the fact that she is able to live her life in the best manner possible.  ..read more

Christen Gray's 5 year old son Finn complained of back pain in the day's before he was to go to kindergarten in 2018. As Christen drove Finn to school for his first day, his back was hurting so much that he had trouble sitting in his car seat. Just a few days later Finn was diagnosed with the Pediatric Bone Cancer Ewings Sarcoma. Christen will talk about Finn's all too short life which ended on January 21st of 2020, and the non- profit Finn's Fighters which her family started in 2019 and its mission, which is to raise awareness for the cause of Pediatric Cancer and to help Tampa Bay area famil ..read more

It took a confirmation from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital to finally confirm that 6 year old Mia Falvey had Medulloblastoma after waiting for an official diagnosis for more than 30 days. Since the summer of 2022 Mia has been under treatment for this most common form of Pediatric Brain cancer and is waiting for an upcoming MRI which will tell the doctors what her next treatment protocol will look like.  ..read more