Your Gift Can Save a Life
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Your Gift Can Save a Life
Marley is here today thanks to the world-class care we were able to provide—and to the donors who make our work possible.
When Teresa and Billy heard the news that their 6-year-old daughter Marley had a brain tumor, their entire world was turned upside down. “I was in complete shock,” Teresa remembers.
For months, Marley just wasn’t herself. This normally active social butterfly was lethargic and withdrawing from her friends. In May 2020, they took her to the pediatrician who chalked it up to the “quarantine effect” in those early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But they had a gut feeling that something more was going on. Just a couple of months later, Marley was sleeping all day and started losing motor skills, bladder control and finally, the ability to walk. That’s when the family turned to Cincinnati Children’s.
What was supposed to be a day or two of testing turned into a six-week hospital stay after an MRI revealed that Marley had a baseball-sized brain tumor. “The team brought us into a little room and told us what was happening,” Billy shares. “I just remember being really scared and wondering if Marley would be the same or if this was the best her life would be. I felt completely powerless.”
The Best Care in Their Backyard
Teresa and Billy didn’t sit in those feelings of fear for long after meeting with Marley’s medical team. “We were so impressed with how all of the different specialists—and there were many of them—came together and worked with us to develop her treatment plan,” Teresa says. “They thought of every possible scenario that could come up with Marley’s care and had an answer for everything. We knew we were in the best possible hands and that gave us all the confidence in the world.”
Marley had an emergency craniotomy where surgeons removed as much of the tumor as possible. But tumors like Marley’s are hard to reach, so once she healed from her operation and finished therapies to help her learn to walk again and regain her motor skills, she underwent advanced radiation treatment at our Proton Therapy Center.
“There are only a couple of places in the country that offer this care,” Teresa says. “We’re just so lucky it’s right here in our backyard.”
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Researchers, care providers and donors working together help us keep more families thriving.
"We have bold ideas, and the support from donors fuels innovation."
Philanthropy Fuels Innovation
Pediatric brain tumors like Marley’s are rare, which also means they don’t see much research funding. However, thanks to our generous supporters, that’s not stopping our experts from advancing science, finding better treatments and, ultimately, cures.
“None of this happens without philanthropy,” says John Perentesis, MD, co-director of our Cancer and Blood Diseases Institute and director of our Proton Therapy Center. “We have bold ideas, and the support from donors fuels innovation.”
Right Where They Belong
Teresa and Billy have confidence in the care Marley continues to receive. “No matter what comes our way, they have a solution for it,” Teresa says. “They always have a plan.”
Today, Marley is 9 years old and back to her spunky self—she loves school, her friends and when she’s not playing with the family’s two adorable dogs, you’ll find her at her craft table, often creating works of art for her care teams. “I love making gifts for people, especially people that help me,” she says with a little smile.
And while she’ll need close monitoring and ongoing care, Marley and her family know they’re right where they need to be. “I just feel so grateful that all of the best doctors and researchers from around the world are right here,” Teresa smiles. “Marley is here because of Cincinnati Children’s.”
Couple Invests in Cancer Research
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Kim (right, holding Jaxen) and Andrew (left, with big sister Brinley) know that our experts are poised to find new treatments and cures for rare cancers.
Kim and Andrew support research Cincinnati Children's is doing in another form of brain cancer. They want to save other families from the unthinkable loss they experienced.
In 2016, their extremely active 2-year-old son Jaxen woke up one morning and couldn’t walk, he was lethargic and couldn’t keep any food down. Given that he was normally jumping and climbing all over everything he could, his pediatrician thought he may have bumped his head and had a concussion. But much like Marley’s parents, Kim and Andrew knew something bigger was wrong with Jaxen, and they brought him to the emergency department at their hometown hospital in West Virginia.
Testing revealed that Jaxen had pineoblastoma—an extremely rare form of brain cancer. In fact, it was so rare, there was no identified treatment. That wasn’t going to stop Kim. She did her research and learned that Cincinnati Children’s is a leader, not only in cancer care, but in discovering new innovative treatments. This is where Kim and Andrew wanted their son treated.
The plan was to have Jaxen do his first-round of chemo in West Virginia and then transfer to Cincinnati Children’s to try a new combination of drugs. Sadly, two days before they were set to leave for Cincinnati—just five weeks from the time he was diagnosed—Jaxen became septic and passed away.
Kim kept in touch with the doctors who would have cared for Jaxen. And while their son was never treated here, Kim and Andrew convinced our experts to begin research to develop a treatment for pineoblastoma to prevent other families from experiencing the profound loss their family did. It was the best way to keep their little boy’s memory alive. “This disease is so rare, and no one is investing in it,” Kim says. “But I’m not stopping until we figure this out.”
They started Jaxen’s Journey—an annual golf outing that raises money and awareness. Since 2017, Kim, Andrew and their supporters have raised more than $140,000. Their generosity is helping us move the needle toward ending this devastating disease. “You don’t know how special Cincinnati Children’s is unless you’ve been to other places,” Kim says. “I know that the solution is here.”