Children Archives - CURE Childhood Cancer

Mark Myers In Childhood Cancer, Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, Children, Uncategorized

Rhea is Back on the Field

Last year, Rhealynn “Rhea” Mills stood in front of 600 guests at the Believe Ball and shared her story. What the room didn’t know that night was that she’d relapsed just one week earlier. Despite this, she showed up anyway, strong and steady, and left an impression none of us has forgotten.

Watch the video we shared that night before she spoke. Knowing what she was carrying that night makes it even more powerful.

A Journey That Began in 2022

Rhea’s story started in October 2022, when she was diagnosed with metastatic osteosarcoma, an aggressive form of bone cancer. Her treatment included the amputation of her right leg, along with multiple surgeries after the cancer spread to her lungs. It’s the kind of diagnosis that reshapes a family overnight, and for the Mills family of Thomasville, Georgia, it did exactly that.

There were dark moments along the way. Rhea has shared that there was a point she thought she was done, and that she might not get to play the sport she loved again. But something in her kept pushing back against that fear, and she decided she wanted to try again.

Where She Is Now

This spring brought a scare: abnormal lab results sent the family back to Texas early, and doctors worried about a possible secondary cancer. After weeks of testing, the news was better than they’d hoped. There is no secondary cancer, and the large tumor in Rhea’s lung appeared to be completely dead. The abnormal labs, it turned out, were caused by low copper levels.

Today, her mother, Revana, reports there’s no active cancer detected, though a mass remains in the left upper lobe of her lung that the family hopes will continue shrinking on its own. Rhea takes daily medication and continues physical therapy to rebuild shoulder strength and manage lingering back pain.

And through all of it, Rhea is back on the softball field. Watch this news feature about Rhea’s return to the mound. You’ll be inspired!

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Her mother calls watching that moment one of the most emotional parts of their entire journey. She wondered for so long whether they’d ever get back to the bleachers. Rhea’s own goals are refreshingly simple: get stronger, hit better, pitch better, and maybe one day play ball in college.

A Family That Keeps Choosing Hope

More than 10,000 people now follow Rhea’s story online, where her family shares both the hard days and the joyful ones: fishing trips, horseback riding, golf, and laughter. They’ve recently launched a YouTube channel to keep documenting those moments, hoping their honesty helps other families facing hard days keep fighting.

Rhea has said she loves the idea of inspiring others to keep working. If her story does that for even one more family walking a similar road, it will be doing exactly what she hoped.

Mark Myers In Children, Precision Medicine

How Precision Medicine Gave Daniel Back His Childhood

Happy young boy outdoors in a wooded area, smiling and enjoying nature.

When Daniel was diagnosed with a brain tumor near his brain stem, he was about to turn two. His symptoms started small, a head tilt so slight that only his doctor caught it. Then, at daycare, he suffered a seizure-like episode where he couldn’t focus on anyone in the room. That was the moment everything changed.

The diagnosis was a brain tumor sitting in one of the most difficult locations possible. The tumor lay right next to the brain stem, where surgeons couldn’t safely remove it. Doctors tried to remove as much as possible, but it grew back to the same size within three months. A second surgery proved fruitless, as well. Daniel’s family made the difficult decision to start a two-year chemotherapy regimen, which he completed a year and a half ago.

This is where CURE’s funding of precision medicine changed the course of Daniel’s story. Genetic testing of his tumor answered two critical questions: it confirmed the tumor wasn’t a type prone to spreading through the spinal cord, and it revealed a mutation in the BRAF gene.

That discovery opened the door to a clinical trial of a drug originally approved a decade ago for adult melanoma patients with the same mutation. It has since become a turning point in pediatric treatment, offering new options for kids like Daniel. Out of all the options, it was the one his family and doctors believed would work best with the least impact on his daily life. They were right. Daniel has thrived on the trial.

“He is doing so well that you’d never guess he is undergoing any type of treatment,” shared his mother, Anna.

Daniel’s tumor will always be part of his life. It can’t be removed, and the goal now is to keep it dormant for good. But his childhood hasn’t been defined by that fight. He’s eight, very active, and obsessed with baseball. He loves to play the sport or watch just about any game on TV.

Precision medicine didn’t just give Daniel’s family a treatment plan. It gave them clarity in the middle of the scariest uncertainty imaginable, and it gave Daniel back his childhood.

As we head toward Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, Daniel’s story is exactly why CURE exists: to turn research into full childhoods like his.

Mark Myers In Children, CURE Childhood Cancer

The Front Seat

Jacob’s son, Caleb, had been complaining of back pain and tiring easily for about a week, which was unusual. Then came the night he dropped a piece of paper and couldn’t bend to pick it up. He cried out in pain. By the next morning, Caleb had spiked a fever of 104. Jacob and his wife, Katie, immediately took him to the hospital, thinking it could be a kidney infection. They soon learned it was something far worse.

“We were shocked,” Jacob said. “I knew something was wrong when several doctors filed into the room.”

Caleb had leukemia. What followed was two and a half weeks in the hospital with both parents present around the clock. Caleb underwent surgery and procedures to begin chemotherapy to fight his leukemia. He had complications from treatment that caused him to struggle to breathe at times. The family was finally discharged, and Caleb continues treatment on an outpatient basis for now. Through it all, Jacob hasn’t missed a single appointment, and he’s learned a lot about himself.

“In the South, it’s instilled that you have to be strong for your family,” he said. “You’re not supposed to be emotional. But Caleb and his brothers need to see their dad process emotions. They need to know it’s okay to be scared; that mommy and daddy are sad too, and that we can do hard things together with the help of God. They need to know that courage doesn’t always mean silence.”

The good news is that Caleb’s leukemia is a favorable-risk, highly treatable form, and it was discovered early. He is responding to treatment and is in the interim maintenance phase of his initial treatment. Caleb’s energy has returned and he is back to his playful self, which brings a great deal of comfort. As his immune system has been stronger, he’s even been able to take swimming lessons recently.

Caleb is part of a very close-knit family, and Jacob isn’t the only man involved in his care. His grandfather, Tim Adams, has spent much of his adult life fighting childhood cancer, just not this close.

A high school football and track coach for his entire career, Tim created Coaches for Curing Cancer in 2015 to support CURE. The organization has raised more than $75,000 since it started. His motivation was the memory of his nephew, Penn Mobley, who died of a central nervous system tumor.

“We were a little more in the back seat during Penn’s treatment,” Tim said. “I never thought we would move to the front seat.”

Now he and his wife, Anna, are fixtures at Caleb’s clinic days, steady presences in a world of waiting rooms, port accesses, and lumbar punctures. Tim watches his daughter navigate this. He watches Jacob hold Caleb’s hand through every difficult moment. And he finds himself face to face with something he cannot coach his way through.

“The hardest part for me is being absolutely powerless,” he said. “Caleb has taught me lessons about patience and taking life head-on. This has been humbling, but it has brought us all closer together in some ways, too.”

This Father’s Day, Jacob and Tim represent so many dads and granddads who have been forced to learn what it means to be in the front seat with their child. Sometimes, showing up is all that can be done; sitting in the waiting room, or holding a hand through a port access. It might not be what the world calls strength. But it is the kind of strength that matters most.

Mark Myers In Children

Puppies for Cameron

Cameron Hudson was an active boy who played basketball and excelled at karate. When he was eleven years old, he showed his parents a strange bump he found on his knee. After many doctors’ visits, he was diagnosed with a rare sarcoma – one of only 300 cases in the world.

During his treatment, Cameron found a very special source of comfort: Aries, a golden retriever therapy dog who showed up on the hardest days and somehow made them easier. Watching Aries trot through the halls, Cameron began dreaming of a dog of his own.

That dream arrived in the form of Lucky – a golden retriever gifted by generous friends who wanted to give Cameron something to love and plan for beyond the next round of chemo. From his hospital bed, Cameron threw himself into the role of dog owner the same way he approached everything: with focus, patience, and a motto he’d adopted as his own, “Slow and steady wins the race.” He watched puppy training videos for hours. He practiced commands. He was determined.

“That dog was so well-trained that she would sit in front of a bowl of food without moving until he told her it was okay,” recalled Cameron’s father, Michael. “Lucky gave him purpose.”

And then Cameron dreamed bigger. He wanted Lucky to one day have puppies that could go to help other children fighting cancer, just as Aries had helped him. It was the kind of idea only Cameron would have: in the middle of his own battle, thinking about how to make it easier for someone else.

Cameron passed away on June 28, 2023. But his parents, Katie and Michael, held onto his vision.

They found a wonderful golden retriever named Chester, and Lucky gave birth to ten healthy puppies in February. Each one found a home entirely by word of mouth, no advertising needed. Every dollar from the puppies’ sale is being donated to CURE, the organization that showed up for their family with meals, support, and community when they needed it most.

“I feel like Cameron handpicked the families,” Katie said. “And it is so special that he is still giving back. There were days in the hospital that I wouldn’t have eaten at all if it weren’t for CURE.”

One of the ten puppies is heading to a very special home. Chelsea Key from CURE’s Patient and Family Services team is adopting one of Lucky’s pups. She and her family hope to have her trained as a therapy dog when she gets a little older. The plan is for her to one day attend CURE events and visit patients, offering the same kind of comfort that Aries once gave Cameron.

Cameron never got to see it happen. But in a very real way, he made it happen. His spirit will carry on with each home that gets one of the puppies.

Lucky still lives with the Hudson family in Florida. And he reminds them of Cameron every single day.

Mark Myers In Children, Family & Patient Support, Uncategorized

I Am Her Strength

Five-year-old De’Meiah (Meme) was in kindergarten when her teacher noticed she wasn’t using her left arm. For her mom, Takia, that small observation set off a medical journey that changed their family forever. When doctors first suggested scoliosis, Takia’s instincts told her something more was going on. She pushed for answers, sought a second opinion, and finally got an MRI. During the scan, Meme had an allergic reaction to the sedation and stopped breathing. A second MRI showed a tumor at the top of Meme’s spine, pressing on the nerve and preventing her from using her arm.

Testing of the tumor revealed that it was not fast-growing, but its location on the spine made its removal impossible. Chemotherapy was the only path forward. Over the past three years, she has reacted well to treatment, but doesn’t like to have her port accessed.

If you spend a few minutes with Meme, you’ll learn she is a diva who loves the camera, dressing up, and the color pink. She’ll dance for you, or she’ll tell you she’s going to be a doctor, a police officer, or a teacher when she grows up. Chemo has made her more home-bound than before. But she’s filled the house with TikTok videos, joyful energy, and a spirit that makes everyone in her life cheer for her. She even worked hard to make the second-grade honor roll.

Behind every child who fights cancer, there is a parent fighting quietly, relentlessly, and sometimes alone. As a single mom, Takia spent the bulk of Meme’s treatment working full-time while getting her to appointments at least twice a week. She recently took a leave of absence so she could be fully present as Meme nears the finish line of her treatment.

Through it all, she has held herself together with intention. She doesn’t cry in front of Meme. She wants her daughter to feed off her strength, not her fear.

“I am her strength,” Takia shared. “I don’t cry when I’m around her. I cry when I’m by myself. But I don’t want her to worry, because she’s the one going through it.”

CURE has walked alongside them every step of the way. For a working single parent navigating treatment, having a team she could count on wasn’t just helpful, it was essential.

“God is good, he has held Meme and me close during this time,” Takia said. “And the CURE team has always been there for us. We felt loved and supported from the day we learned about the tumor.”

On May 14, Meme will ring the bell: a girl who lost the use of her arm and got it back, an honor roll student, and a diva with a bright future ahead. And she will ring it as the daughter of Takia, a mother who never stopped fighting for answers and has stayed strong when it was hardest.

This Mother’s Day, we celebrate them both.

Mark Myers In Childhood Cancer, Children

Coming Full Circle

Ava’s Journey from Patient to Pediatric Nurse

When Ava Wenclawiak was four years old, the hospital became her second home during leukemia treatment. Now, at 22, she’s walking back through those same doors. But this time, she’s wearing scrubs instead of a hospital gown.

Ava just graduated from Clemson University with her nursing degree and began her career as a pediatric hematology/oncology nurse at the very hospital that saved her life. It’s a full-circle moment that represents more than just a job; it’s a calling born from experience.

“I’m honored to work at the hospital that gave me a second chance at life,” Ava shared. “I want to be able to take care of patients and families and provide them with the amazing nurse care I once received.”

Ava embodies what we hope for every child we serve – not just survival, but the chance to thrive, to find purpose, and to turn their experience into something that helps others.

Mark Myers In Children, News, Survivorship

Hope Walks With Us

Lexi’s Story of Resilience and Motherhood

Ten years ago, Lexi Sklar’s life took an unexpected turn. At just 21 years old, in the prime of spreading her independent wings, she received a diagnosis that would temporarily clip them. What began as what seemed like a gym injury revealed itself as something far more serious, a tumor called osteosarcoma.

Lexie Sklar with husband and daughter “As a young adult, you think you have your entire life ahead of you,” Lexi reflected. “But then you get served this stark reality that you might not be here tomorrow. What am I going to do with all of the other things I planned to do with my life?”

Among those plans was starting a family. The tumor was so aggressive that she began chemotherapy immediately. There was no time for any fertility treatment. The possibility of motherhood seemed to slip away along with so many other dreams.

But today, Lexi’s 2 ½-year-old daughter Charlotte runs around with unbridled energy, while Lexi nurtures her second pregnancy – a reality she once couldn’t imagine possible.

“Both of my pregnancies are absolute miracles,” she says with quiet wonder.

Her journey included a rotationplasty, a procedure in which the knee is amputated, and the foot and ankle are rotated 180 degrees and attached to the thigh bone, effectively creating a new functional knee. While she muses that it is not “aesthetically the prettiest thing in the world,” it gave her something beautiful: freedom of movement without the limitations of a traditional amputation.

“I love it,” she stated firmly about her surgical choice. “It allows me to be active.”

That activity extended to wheelchair basketball, which she’s played for three seasons, and walking confidently across the college graduation stage in 2016 – a goal she set during her darkest days of treatment. Through it all, one constant presence remained: her mother, Heather, herself a cancer survivor.

“The role that my mom took during my treatment – I don’t think that there are enough thank yous in the world for how much of her life she gave up to be there for me,” Lexi shares. “Making sure someone was in my corner all the time.”

Her mother’s guidance came with a profound promise: “There are things that I experienced in my cancer journey that I can help you with. But there are things that we will have to push through together.”

It’s no wonder that “hope” became Lexi’s favorite word during treatment, so much so that she named her dog after it.

“When things are at their worst, there is always room for a little hope,” she said. “You can always look to hope for a light in dark times.”

Lexie and her family

Mark Myers In Childhood Cancer, Children, News

Two Webbs, Two Wars

A D-Day Veteran and His Great-Grandson Fight Unimaginable Battles

On June 6, 1944, 17-year-old Frank Webb Krueger landed on Omaha Beach in Normandy, France as one of 156,000 young men from the United States, Great Britain, and Canada. Their mission was simple – infiltrate Nazi-held France, and to liberate our allies from the invasion of enemy forces who threatened our freedom and way of life. The execution, however, was anything but. The weather was awful. The invasion had to be delayed. The Germans had a chance to mount defenses in preparation for our arrival. When they arrived on the shores of Normandy, they were met with heavy gunfire, barbed wire, and mines. It was an onslaught from every angle. And, on Omaha Beach, a literal uphill battle to climb the cliffs to claim the territory, and the eventual victory.

On February 17, 2022, Webb Murray Waddell arrived at the Children’s Hospital of Georgia in Augusta as the only child of Laura and Scott. We also had a simple mission – get an MRI to help uncover the reason for Webb’s recent development of nystagmus in his right eye – a condition that caused a side-to-side shaking of his pupil. The execution, like that of the D-Day invasion, was anything but simple. A scan that was scheduled to take 30 minutes took over an hour and a half. The discovery of a plum-sized tumor in Webb’s brain changed the course of action not just for the day, but for the rest of their lives. Webb and his family were suddenly met with their own uphill battle. This one wasn’t on a foreign battlefield, but right in their very home.

As a teacher, Laura knew she would struggle to name her children. She had her fair share of names she knew she would never use. Her husband, Scott, and she decided the best course of action was to use family names so that they had a positive and meaningful connection with whatever they decided. So, that’s exactly what they did.

Frank Webb Krueger, Laura’s maternal grandfather, the D-Day hero from the middle-of-nowhere Alabama, shares his name with his great-grandson, who is a hero in his own right. Little did Laura and Scott know by giving Webb his name that these two incredible people would share so much more than that.

Webb was diagnosed before he could crawl, before he could sit up, and before he could speak. He has battled his whole life. What started as difficulty and eventual inability to eat led to difficulty gaining weight, and the inability to meet developmental milestones. Finally, at seven months old, Laura and Scott knew the reason why.
When the MRI revealed Webb’s brain tumor, a plan was made to schedule surgery for the following Monday. The team wanted the most optimal conditions, to get the right personnel in place, and to plan it out perfectly. But, just like D-Day, that didn’t happen. Twenty-four hours after Webb’s MRI, he woke from a sound sleep with a guttural scream. He was having a stroke. Laura pressed the emergency call button as fast as she could find it, picked Webb up, and watched as half of his face and his body drooped. Nurses rushed into the room; Webb was intubated and rushed to the ICU in the wee hours of the morning.

Just like the D-Day invasion, a decision was made to move forward immediately. The conditions were no longer optimal, but the luxury of waiting no longer existed. This mission was a rescue one. A few hours later, just after daybreak, Webb was rushed into emergency brain surgery. Six very long hours passed, and the neurosurgeon emerged to speak with Laura and Scott.

“I got what I could, but it was very messy,” he said, referring to the surgical field. “There’s a chance he’s lost his eyesight. I just want you to prepare,” he said.

It took six days for the beach fronts of Normandy to connect, allowing a United Allied front to move inland through France. It took six weeks for Webb to be stable enough to move from the ICU up to the oncology floor. It also took six weeks for the pathology to come back with a diagnosis – a pilomyxoid astrocytoma. Grade 1. Treatable. There was now a course of action. That course included fourteen months of weekly chemotherapy infusions. As fate would have it, that last infusion was administered on June 6, 2023 – the 79th Anniversary of D-Day.

In spite of his constant adversity, Webb never lost his smile, or his hair! His contagious and infectious positivity quickly won over the hearts of every nurse and doctor who treated him. It is impossible not to love Webb. Unless you are intimately familiar with his journey, you would never know from just looking at him that he was in the fight of his life. This is just another trait he shares with his great-grandfather. The same man who fought and killed for his country was a humble, gentle, and unassuming father of five children.

This June, Webb turned four. He continues to get better every single day, and continues to amaze his family, teachers, doctors, and therapists with his strength and perseverance. Laura and Scott would have never chosen this path for him, or themselves, but feel so immensely blessed. Sometimes life is beautifully poetic, even in the worst of circumstances.

Written by Webb’s mother, Laura Waddell

Mark Myers In Childhood Cancer, Children, Survivorship

Healing Together: A Daughter’s Fight, A Mother’s Mission

Madeline’s journey began with subtle signs that something was different. At two years old, her motor skills lagged behind her peers, and she seemed to fall more often than other children. Her mother, Bethany, recalled those early days, not realizing the challenges that lay ahead.

Just after Madeline’s third birthday, everything changed. Severe leg pain and her inability to walk prompted Bethany to insist on further testing. A total body scan revealed a football-sized mass in her abdomen, crushing her internal organs. The diagnosis was neuroblastoma, a type of pediatric cancer that forms in immature nerve cells.

After two rounds of chemotherapy, Madeline regained her ability to walk. Surgeons managed to remove 85% of the tumor, though its connection to her spinal column prevented complete removal. Genetic testing through CURE’s Precision Medicine Program revealed a mutation associated with an aggressive form of neuroblastoma. But fortunately, the remnants of Madeline’s tumor have been stable. Knowing that Madeline has that particular genetic mutation will help doctors in the future should her tumor become active.

Another aspect of precision medicine involves looking into a child’s genetic predisposition. Madeline’s younger sister, Sedona, has a genetic disorder called hemihypertrophy, which is a growth disorder. So she was referred to the genetic predisposition clinic to see if her genetic mutation was the same as Madeline’s. If a genetic link between the two was revealed, it might indicate that Sedona had a high risk of developing cancer in the future. No link was found, but both sisters will be continually monitored so that any cancer can be detected early when it is more treatable.

Madeline finished her treatment and was declared cancer-free. Five years later, she reached a big milestone – she was officially a cancer survivor. Now nine years old and soon to start the fourth grade, she continues to thrive despite some lingering side effects. Her gross motor skills are somewhat challenged, but she doesn’t mind that she can’t hula hoop as well as other kids in her class. She remains incredibly confident and understands that everyone has their own strengths.

Madeline’s battle inspired a profound transformation in her mother. Bethany, who had been working in tech at IBM, decided to pursue a completely different path. Her daughter’s treatment experience has shown her the incredible impact compassionate healthcare professionals can have on families facing their darkest moments.

In 2020, Bethany began taking nursing prerequisites part-time. By 2023, she enrolled full-time in an accelerated nursing program. Her new pursuit culminated in October when she started working in the Cardiac ICU at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta – the very same hospital where Madeline had been treated. Her personal experience transformed her perspective, turning a potentially devastating chapter of her life into a calling to help others.

“I wanted to do something with my life that mattered,” Bethany explained. “I wanted to be there for someone else the way the medical team was there for my family.”

Madeline is known for her reading skills, empathy, and caring nature. And her mother is now working to ensure the health of other children. Together, they represent hope for their family and many others.

Mark Myers In Childhood Cancer, Children, Precision Medicine, Research

How Genetic Testing Changed Caroline’s Treatment

Caroline’s life took a dramatic turn just after her first birthday. At ten months old, she began losing weight and battling what seemed to be a stubborn ear infection. What her parents initially thought was a routine childhood illness led to an MRI that revealed a more serious condition: a tumor attached to her optic nerve. The diagnosis was juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma (JPA), typically one of the more treatable brain tumors with an excellent survival rate due to its rare tendency to spread.

However, Caroline’s case would prove anything but typical. After surgeons successfully removed half of the tumor, follow-up MRIs revealed the unthinkable – the cancer had spread, with new spots appearing on her brain and at the base of her spine. This put Caroline in the rare 2-3% of JPA cases that metastasize, leaving her medical team searching for answers.

Genetic sequencing through CURE’s Precision Medicine Program revealed crucial information: her tumor carried a gene fusion called KIAA1549: BRAF. This discovery proved to be both a challenge and an opportunity. While traditional treatments would likely be less effective because of this mutation, the discovery opened the door to targeted therapies called MEK inhibitors that could block the activity of proteins that cause tumor growth.

Caroline began immunotherapy and the genetic insight led her doctors to enroll her in a couple of clinical trials using these inhibitors. They finally began to see stable results with a better quality of life. After several years of hour-long infusions, followed by nausea, fatigue and hair thinning, Caroline was able to begin taking medication orally which mean fewer trips to the hospital.

In April 2023, Caroline had an emergency shunt placement to relieve the pressure caused by an excess of cerebral fluid. At that time, the surgeon took another tumor sample for additional gene sequencing. These results led them to a new clinical trial using a Type II pan-RAF kinase inhibitor that works by blocking a protein called Type II RAF kinase. After 6 months, the tumor mass showed a visible reduction, and two metastasized spots had nearly disappeared. Even more encouraging, her vision remained stable, a crucial concern given the tumor’s location near her optic nerve.

“We love to hear that the tumor is shrinking.” Said Caroline’s mother, Camille. “But we’ve been fighting so long that we’ve learned to appreciate and accept the word stable, too.”

When tumor growth was detected in July 2024, her doctors adjusted her treatment plan based on their understanding of her tumor’s genetic profile, leading to promising results.

Today, Caroline continues to navigate her treatment journey with resilience. She is eleven years old and has found joy in creative pursuits. She excels at diamond art, a hobby that involves applying tiny resin diamonds onto a canvas to create designs. Despite her visual challenges, Caroline shows remarkable precision in placing the diamonds. She has also taken to writing and is 50 pages into a new book.

Caroline’s case is unique and complex. Thanks to precision medicine, her treatment path continues to evolve, guided by the genetic insights that have proven so valuable. Her story demonstrates the vital role genetic testing plays in modern cancer treatment, allowing doctors to create personalized treatment plans that target specific mutations and allow children like Caroline to thrive.