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ConnorStrong

From Callie:

Many of you have asked about my connection to Connor and his family, so here’s a little background:

I learned about Connor and his mom, Kristen, through a mutual friend at NetJets where Kristen was a dispatcher. Kristen’s husband/Connor’s dad is in the Army and currently stationed overseas, so she’s handling the day to day aspect of this largely on her own. As a single mother of 4, I understand all too well the challenges of just getting through daily life without someone by my side. The thought of facing a major medical crisis with one of my kids on my own seems almost unbearable, which is why I’m compelled to help.

I found out Connor & Kristen were in NYC a couple weeks ago for tests and treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center & had the opportunity to take a private tour of FAO Schwartz at the beginning of their trip. Since I know the most amazing people in New York, I started wondering what my NY friends might be willing to do help Connor and Kristen during one of their upcoming week long stays in the city. I contacted Sal Gervasi & a few other people for assistance in donating hotel points or airline miles. Sal said he and others would love to help, but the quickest thing for them to do would be to donate cash to pay for travel expenses instead of messing around transferring points. I figure since we’re going to raise cash, there’s no reason to limit fundraising to NYC so I created the GoFundMe page @ http://www.gofundme.com/e65yzo.

I have been so blessed with the most incredible support system the past few years, especially with my work family at Insperity. I know many of you receive requests for donations on a regular basis, so I do not make this request lightly. My invitation for you to donate is not just another random plea for money, but rather a request to extend the love and support you’ve shown me to someone else who needs it now.

Thanks again to everyone who has donated & thank you in advance to all those I know will donate in the next few days. You are all awesome!

Now to the reason I've asked you to donate:

Connor was diagnosed with stage IV Neuroblastoma in Feb 2012, just days after his little sister, Lily, was born. He endured an 18 month grueling treatment that consisted of 7 rounds of chemotherapy, several surgeries, 2 tandem stem cell transplants, MIBG radiation therapy and 6 months of antibody therapy. He was NED, or cancer free, in December 2012. He finished treatment in July 2013 and was enjoying life as a very healthy boy.

During routine scans in April 2014, a spot was found on his head and with further CT and MRI scans it was confirmed that neuroblastoma had returned - this time in his brain. Neuroblastoma in the brain is a rare occurrence and the treatment available is very limited. Connor had surgery to remove the mass successfully in April and underwent 2 additional rounds of chemo.  

Since June 1st, 2014, Connor has gone through a 3rd round of chemo, proton therapy 5 days a week for 5 weeks at the Hampton University Proton Therapy Institute in Hampton, VA. & just made a trip to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City to have an Ommaya port placed in his head and antibody (8h9) therapy delivered to his brain and spine. As of September 15th, 2014 he is still facing antibody treatments for the rest of his body which will be given 1 week a month (5 days) for 4 weeks.

All of Connor's upcoming therapy will be done outpatient, so he and his mom will be traveling from their home in VA to NYC for a week at a time. The purpose of this GoFundMe page is to help pay for travel related expenses (air, hotel, food, etc) for each trip. This will be another long and grueling treatment, but we will do anything it takes to get him cancer free.

WE ARE CONNOR STRONG!!!!!  





Updates on Connor's progress can be found by clicking here.
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Donations 

  • Jeannine Hortman
    • $50 
    • 8 yrs
  • Jason Cutbirth
    • $100 (Offline)
    • 10 yrs
  • Keith Simmons
    • $20 (Offline)
    • 10 yrs
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Organizer

Callie Piper
Organizer
Chester, VA

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