Fight Like a Kid
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Fight Like a Kid was started by Bianca Maderal as she learned that she had brain cancer. Bianca, also known as Bibi, decided to start a foundation to help other teenagers, like herself, fight cancer.
Fight Like a Kid is a nonprofit organization under 501 (c)(3). Our goal is to raise money to fund childhood cancer research, to raise awareness of childhood cancer, and to inspire teens & children who are surviving all kinds of cancer.
From Bibi, "How can you explain something to someone that you don't even understand yourself? That is exactly what I ask myself a million times everyday. I feel as if I’m living a nightmare & other days I knew everything was going to be okay. Battling cancer has changed my life.
In December of 2015 I had a first time seizure during school, right in the beginning of my senior year of high school. I was rushed to the hospital to run millions of tests. After being two months in the hospital, I ran two brain CTs, an EEG, three brain MRIs, a spine, heart, abdominal, and pelvis MRI, two PET scans, two lumbar punctures, and gallons of blood taken out of me.
The doctors were unable to find the cause of the shadows they found in my brain.
The next step was to dive into my brain to get a better visual of what these “shadows” were. My neurosurgeon performed an open, right temporal craniotomy biopsy. 7 inches of 45 staples & 3 stitches later I was hanging in there & prayed for nothing but good results.
I was then diagnosed with stage three multifocal anaplastic astrocytoma. My specific form of brain cancer is extremely rare & most commonly seen in people ages 30-50 years old, I’m only 18. My tumors require aggressive treatment & it is a long/gruesome battle.
In February of 2016, it was time to pack up my life in Miami, Florida & move to Baltimore, Maryland for 8 weeks- where I began my treatment with Johns Hopkins Memorial Hospital. I started chemotherapy & radiation that prevented my tumors from growing & spreading. Treatment was extremely brutal. I lost some of my hair, felt fatigue/nauseous, & along with many other horrible side effects. However, going in with a positive mindset everyday definitely made an impact on how I was able to manage the whole situation.
Being diagnosed with cancer has inspired me to open my very own nonprofit organization for other teenagers battling cancer. My mission is to put a smile on the faces of those fighting the fight by providing help and inspire hope through nonprofit, dedication, education, and support.
Some kids wish to be a cowboy, a princess, to be a chef, or a farmer. Other kids wish for a cure, so they can grow up! Sometimes, real superheroes live in the hearts of small children fighting big battles. In my eyes, it’s cancer’s turn to be afraid because impossible has the word “possible” in it.
Sometimes it takes sadness to know happiness, noise to appreciate silence, and absence to value presence. In life there’s moments when we need to be hurt in order to grow and lose in order to gain. Some lessons are learned best through pain.
One thing I would say to another cancer patient & their family is, my favorite quote from Winnie the Pooh, “There is something you must always remember: you are braver than you believe, smarter than you think, and stronger than you seem,”—because only the bravest & strongest of warriors were given this battle. I would not be the person I am today without undergoing this beast. There isn’t a day that goes by that I do not think about cancer.
Fight Like a Kid is a nonprofit organization under 501 (c)(3). Our goal is to raise money to fund childhood cancer research, to raise awareness of childhood cancer, and to inspire teens & children who are surviving all kinds of cancer.
From Bibi, "How can you explain something to someone that you don't even understand yourself? That is exactly what I ask myself a million times everyday. I feel as if I’m living a nightmare & other days I knew everything was going to be okay. Battling cancer has changed my life.
In December of 2015 I had a first time seizure during school, right in the beginning of my senior year of high school. I was rushed to the hospital to run millions of tests. After being two months in the hospital, I ran two brain CTs, an EEG, three brain MRIs, a spine, heart, abdominal, and pelvis MRI, two PET scans, two lumbar punctures, and gallons of blood taken out of me.
The doctors were unable to find the cause of the shadows they found in my brain.
The next step was to dive into my brain to get a better visual of what these “shadows” were. My neurosurgeon performed an open, right temporal craniotomy biopsy. 7 inches of 45 staples & 3 stitches later I was hanging in there & prayed for nothing but good results.
I was then diagnosed with stage three multifocal anaplastic astrocytoma. My specific form of brain cancer is extremely rare & most commonly seen in people ages 30-50 years old, I’m only 18. My tumors require aggressive treatment & it is a long/gruesome battle.
In February of 2016, it was time to pack up my life in Miami, Florida & move to Baltimore, Maryland for 8 weeks- where I began my treatment with Johns Hopkins Memorial Hospital. I started chemotherapy & radiation that prevented my tumors from growing & spreading. Treatment was extremely brutal. I lost some of my hair, felt fatigue/nauseous, & along with many other horrible side effects. However, going in with a positive mindset everyday definitely made an impact on how I was able to manage the whole situation.
Being diagnosed with cancer has inspired me to open my very own nonprofit organization for other teenagers battling cancer. My mission is to put a smile on the faces of those fighting the fight by providing help and inspire hope through nonprofit, dedication, education, and support.
Some kids wish to be a cowboy, a princess, to be a chef, or a farmer. Other kids wish for a cure, so they can grow up! Sometimes, real superheroes live in the hearts of small children fighting big battles. In my eyes, it’s cancer’s turn to be afraid because impossible has the word “possible” in it.
Sometimes it takes sadness to know happiness, noise to appreciate silence, and absence to value presence. In life there’s moments when we need to be hurt in order to grow and lose in order to gain. Some lessons are learned best through pain.
One thing I would say to another cancer patient & their family is, my favorite quote from Winnie the Pooh, “There is something you must always remember: you are braver than you believe, smarter than you think, and stronger than you seem,”—because only the bravest & strongest of warriors were given this battle. I would not be the person I am today without undergoing this beast. There isn’t a day that goes by that I do not think about cancer.
Organizer
Bianca Maderal
Organizer
Cutler Bay, FL
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