May is recognized nationally as Brain Tumor Awareness Month (BTAM) each year. It is a time to raise awareness of the devastating impact of a brain tumor diagnosis, on the individual, family, and larger community. Brain cancer accounts for about 15% of pediatric cancers. Brain and CNS tumors are the second most common type of…
A Note of Encouragement from a Cancer Mom Written by Sarah Mersdorf-Foreman, Levi’s mom The other day, I took on the task of cleaning out the hallway medicine/medical supply closet (aka the family-owned pharmacy). This froze me. This is the type of needle that was used weekly to access Levi’s port for his…
November 6, 2020 I received an urgent message this week about a family whose child was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year and needs help with their bills: A young couple and their son Alexander moved to Colorado in July after Alexander’s grandma had a massive heart attack. The family used all their savings to…
Levi was two months into Kindergarten when he started throwing up 1 to 2 times a week. His pediatrician said Levi had the flu, but later that month, Levi’s left eye started to cross. Levi’s mom felt that the throwing up and eye-crossing were related and asked her friend, an optometrist, to take a look…
Morgan had a 5% chance of survival after being diagnosed with cancer when she was a junior in high school. An experimental treatment saved her life. Morgan was 15 years old when a mass the size of a softball was found low in her pelvic cavity. Here’s what Morgan has to say about her cancer…
On July 30, 1992, Morgan Courtney Adams was born, healthy and destined to make her mark on the world. She was the first of our three children. Of all the things Steven and I imagined for Morgan and her life to come, cancer was never one of them. Watching Morgan endure the seemingly endless painful…
Generally, there are two ways to discover a new cancer drug: You can use basic science to discover a cancer’s Achille’s heel and then find or build a drug that exploits it, or you can try a bunch of drugs on cancer cells and see what works. Think of the basic science approach as building…
Children’s Hospital Colorado oncologist Adam Green, MD, understands the risks of whole-brain radiation, but sometimes it’s an important part of the cure for cancers like medulloblastoma or high-risk leukemia. The problem is that in addition to the long-term cognitive challenges that can accompany this use of radiation, the treatment can actually cause new cancers: About…
Chemotherapy and radiation kill rapidly dividing cells, a hallmark of cancer (and hair). However, cancer stem cells do not divide rapidly and so tend to resist these treatments. And while these stem cells make up only a small percentage of a tumor’s bulk, if only a small population survives treatment, they can often regrow a…
How to Talk to Children About the Coronavirus Pandemic Alan D. Wolfelt, PhD As the coronavirus spreads across North America and our daily lives are transformed, we all must be aware of the need for good mental health care. Obviously, it’s a stressful time. Families are confined to their homes. School is canceled. Many businesses…