Help Liam Annihilate Brain Cancer!!
Donation protected
Liam's story begins the fall of 2014. He was a happy-go-lucky baby, a light to many, until he fell ill and began to lose weight rapidly. Liam was taken to his pediatrician where it was decided that he needed to be admitted for testing and observation. This was to be the first of many hospitalizations to come. The tests that were done all came back normal. This didn't give us the answers we sought. It only ruled out what it wasn't. With heightened anxiety and fear of the worst...was it a brain tumor? Was it cancer? We urged the doctors to run more tests, specifically an MRI. All requests were denied. We then pushed for a hospital transfer which was met with opposition. This frustrated all of us as Liam's little body was wasting away and the doctors were doing nothing for him, only watching him die. It wasn't until Liam's step-grandma got down right aggressive and insisted he be transferred or she would get the local media involved. This worked! Liam was transferred to a children's hospital in Chicago. Once there, an MRI was requested and granted.
I was at Walmart gearing up for the hospital stay when my son called. Hysterical, he could barely get the words out. Through the tears and trying to catch his breath, I heard "he's got a braaain tuuumor!" Liam's Dad Jonathan, my son, fell apart that day. We all did. All I could say feeling so numb to the news was that I didn't want it to be true, but at least now they knew how to help him. Liam was diagnosed just after his first birthday.
It was touch and go over the next month. He had an emergency surgery to relieve the pressure mounting in his brain from the tumor and all the fluid it was creating. A small biopsy was done and a shunt was placed in his head along with a port in his little chest for chemotherapy. He was in ICU for a month with Diencephalic Syndrome. He slept 23 1/2 hours out of a 24 hour day most of that month. It was a waiting game. Initially, we did some research, but quickly felt overwhelmed and out of our league. We relied on traditional medicine to take it's course and save him from this golf-ball-sized menace. The small biopsy that was done revealed a Low Grade Glioma Astrocytoma and we knew little else.
Liam began a year's worth of chemotherapy- Vincristine and Carboplatin and the tumor shrunk! We were overjoyed and complacency set in. We could relax now. He had an MRI at 3 months and it was stable so the port was removed. The MRI 3 months after that showed the relentlessness of the tumor- it grew! Liam was given high-dose Carboplatin for 3 months. The tumor grew again! It was decided that it would be best to surgically de-bulk the tumor even though it couldn't be completely removed due to it's location.
In March 2017, the surgeon was able to remove over 50% of the tumor and this also brought to light a more definitive diagnosis of Low Grade Glioma Pilomyxoid Astrocytoma Grade 2 with NF1 variant. The surgery was followed by Vinblastine x 6 doses. Another MRI was done at 2 months post-surgery due to Liam's symptoms. The MRI revealed that the tumor grew yet again! This supposedly slow-growing tumor grew back almost to the size it was prior to surgery 2 months before.
As of June 2017, Temodar was selected as the next toxic regimen. With each tumor progression comes an even nastier chemical therapy than before. These chemical therapies come complete with nasty side effects including but not limited to: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, risk of bleeding, internal organ damage and the threat of developing an additional cancer. All of this from the very agent that is supposed to rid the body of cancer in the first place. The doctors have told us from the beginning that Liam's tumor will never go away. With the Temodar, their hope is to slow or stop the tumor's growth. They do not have the expectation of reducing it in size. Radiation is one of the next steps in traditional cancer treatment and with this, devastating side effects. This is unacceptable! We can't wait until they tell us there's nothing more they can do.
The quest for alternative treatments has revealed hope in the form of Dr Burzynski. Dr Burzynski specializes in the treatment of brain tumors. He has completely cured them in multiple, documented cases along with other advanced cancers with the use of his discovery of non-toxic antineoplastons. Antineoplastons (ANP) Anti=against and neoplastons=cancer cells. This is Liam's chance! This has to become a reality! Nothing in life is guaranteed, we know that. Right now, traditional medicine has chemo ravaging Liam's little body killing his good cells while the tumor, which they don't expect to go away, remains unaffected.
Liam, like most other children, wants to play outside and draw pictures with chalk on the sidewalk. He wants to run through the sprinkler on a hot summer's day and play at the park. He wants to enjoy his meals without nausea. He wants to have a warm bath with toys and a story when he's curled up in bed for the night.
What he doesn't want is to wake up in the middle of the night feeling sick or to have to hold his head and sob when it throbs with pain. And he doesn't want to stop playing to have the painful knots rubbed out of his legs and feet. We can stop this!
With grateful and humble hearts we approach you because we have to ACT NOW! Time is of the essence! These are promising treatments and they come with an expensive price tag. We need money for his treatment, travel expenses as the clinic is in Houston, TX, and for the time missed from work due to the treatments. We are driven to succeed in eradicating this baby's tumor once and for all. With God's grace and your help, we will! Please help us help Liam in this journey. A journey that will afford an amazing little boy the opportunity to grow up. We cannot leave a stone unturned. If you are like us, you would do everything in your power to beat this thing because life just wouldn't be right without the light that is Liam. If he were yours, what would you do? Help us please! PLEASE SHARE THIS WITH EVERYONE!!
Thank you in advance for your time, consideration, gifts and prayers.
Sincerely,
Melissa AKA Grama Wissa
"There are two primary choices in life; to accept conditions as they exist, or to accept the responsibility for changing them" (Dennis Waitley)
"You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step" (Martin Luther King)
"The first step toward success is taken when you refuse to be a captive of the environment in which you first find yourself" (Mark Caine)
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results" (Albert Einstein)
"Nothing is impossible. The word itself says "I'M POSSIBLE"! (Audrey Hepburn)
At any given moment you have the power to say: "This is NOT how the story is going to end!" (Unknown)
"It's not the size of the dog in the fight. It's the size of the fight in the dog" (Mark Twain)
LET'S DO THIS!!
I was at Walmart gearing up for the hospital stay when my son called. Hysterical, he could barely get the words out. Through the tears and trying to catch his breath, I heard "he's got a braaain tuuumor!" Liam's Dad Jonathan, my son, fell apart that day. We all did. All I could say feeling so numb to the news was that I didn't want it to be true, but at least now they knew how to help him. Liam was diagnosed just after his first birthday.
It was touch and go over the next month. He had an emergency surgery to relieve the pressure mounting in his brain from the tumor and all the fluid it was creating. A small biopsy was done and a shunt was placed in his head along with a port in his little chest for chemotherapy. He was in ICU for a month with Diencephalic Syndrome. He slept 23 1/2 hours out of a 24 hour day most of that month. It was a waiting game. Initially, we did some research, but quickly felt overwhelmed and out of our league. We relied on traditional medicine to take it's course and save him from this golf-ball-sized menace. The small biopsy that was done revealed a Low Grade Glioma Astrocytoma and we knew little else.
Liam began a year's worth of chemotherapy- Vincristine and Carboplatin and the tumor shrunk! We were overjoyed and complacency set in. We could relax now. He had an MRI at 3 months and it was stable so the port was removed. The MRI 3 months after that showed the relentlessness of the tumor- it grew! Liam was given high-dose Carboplatin for 3 months. The tumor grew again! It was decided that it would be best to surgically de-bulk the tumor even though it couldn't be completely removed due to it's location.
In March 2017, the surgeon was able to remove over 50% of the tumor and this also brought to light a more definitive diagnosis of Low Grade Glioma Pilomyxoid Astrocytoma Grade 2 with NF1 variant. The surgery was followed by Vinblastine x 6 doses. Another MRI was done at 2 months post-surgery due to Liam's symptoms. The MRI revealed that the tumor grew yet again! This supposedly slow-growing tumor grew back almost to the size it was prior to surgery 2 months before.
As of June 2017, Temodar was selected as the next toxic regimen. With each tumor progression comes an even nastier chemical therapy than before. These chemical therapies come complete with nasty side effects including but not limited to: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, risk of bleeding, internal organ damage and the threat of developing an additional cancer. All of this from the very agent that is supposed to rid the body of cancer in the first place. The doctors have told us from the beginning that Liam's tumor will never go away. With the Temodar, their hope is to slow or stop the tumor's growth. They do not have the expectation of reducing it in size. Radiation is one of the next steps in traditional cancer treatment and with this, devastating side effects. This is unacceptable! We can't wait until they tell us there's nothing more they can do.
The quest for alternative treatments has revealed hope in the form of Dr Burzynski. Dr Burzynski specializes in the treatment of brain tumors. He has completely cured them in multiple, documented cases along with other advanced cancers with the use of his discovery of non-toxic antineoplastons. Antineoplastons (ANP) Anti=against and neoplastons=cancer cells. This is Liam's chance! This has to become a reality! Nothing in life is guaranteed, we know that. Right now, traditional medicine has chemo ravaging Liam's little body killing his good cells while the tumor, which they don't expect to go away, remains unaffected.
Liam, like most other children, wants to play outside and draw pictures with chalk on the sidewalk. He wants to run through the sprinkler on a hot summer's day and play at the park. He wants to enjoy his meals without nausea. He wants to have a warm bath with toys and a story when he's curled up in bed for the night.
What he doesn't want is to wake up in the middle of the night feeling sick or to have to hold his head and sob when it throbs with pain. And he doesn't want to stop playing to have the painful knots rubbed out of his legs and feet. We can stop this!
With grateful and humble hearts we approach you because we have to ACT NOW! Time is of the essence! These are promising treatments and they come with an expensive price tag. We need money for his treatment, travel expenses as the clinic is in Houston, TX, and for the time missed from work due to the treatments. We are driven to succeed in eradicating this baby's tumor once and for all. With God's grace and your help, we will! Please help us help Liam in this journey. A journey that will afford an amazing little boy the opportunity to grow up. We cannot leave a stone unturned. If you are like us, you would do everything in your power to beat this thing because life just wouldn't be right without the light that is Liam. If he were yours, what would you do? Help us please! PLEASE SHARE THIS WITH EVERYONE!!
Thank you in advance for your time, consideration, gifts and prayers.
Sincerely,
Melissa AKA Grama Wissa
"There are two primary choices in life; to accept conditions as they exist, or to accept the responsibility for changing them" (Dennis Waitley)
"You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step" (Martin Luther King)
"The first step toward success is taken when you refuse to be a captive of the environment in which you first find yourself" (Mark Caine)
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results" (Albert Einstein)
"Nothing is impossible. The word itself says "I'M POSSIBLE"! (Audrey Hepburn)
At any given moment you have the power to say: "This is NOT how the story is going to end!" (Unknown)
"It's not the size of the dog in the fight. It's the size of the fight in the dog" (Mark Twain)
LET'S DO THIS!!
Organizer
Melissa Kay
Organizer
Loves Park, IL
