Help Kensley Survive Inoperable Brain Stem Tumor
Donation protected
*Update-
Kensley is scheduled to start the Car T-cell Therapy trial in Seattle sometime in February. She will get infusions every two weeks for 6 months. We will have to stay in Seattle for the first 8 weeks. When they release her to come home we will have to fly back to Seattle for infusions every two weeks.
Until the trial starts in February, we will still be traveling to Seattle every 9 weeks for the Onc 201 trial.
When we go back in February we will have to fly and will most likely stay in an Air BNB or some other furnished short term rental. Unless things change in the next few months, it sounds as if Ronald McDonald house won't be an option because of Covid. Also because of Covid, we cant take public transportation so we will have to rent a car for at least part of the time that we are there.
There is history being made right now and our girl will be part of it. Sweet, Brave Emily, was the first patient to get intracranial Car T-cell Therapy infusions. Kensley should be #4!
Kensley is a 10 year old “Choctaw girl!” Choctaw is a small suburban community in Oklahoma. In almost every way, she is a normal, spirited, active 5th grader...with one big exception- She is in a fight for her life with an inoperable brain tumor.
At a school board meeting in November, Kensley accepted the Superintendent’s innovator award for starting the Buzz, a newspaper at her school. Her goal when she grows up is to be a nationally recognized reporter for a major publication.
In December 2019 in the span of just a few weeks, she went from a normal and healthy 9 year- old, to a kid fighting an inoperable tumor on her brain stem.
It started as what we thought was a tummy bug, trips to the family physician and then to Children’s Hospital ER with non-stop vomiting. A CAT-Scan revealed brain swelling and suggested a brain tumor. The doctor immediately prepped her for surgery to implant a shunt to decrease the brain swelling, and ordered an MRI.
The tumor she is fighting is rare and highly aggressive. This GoFundMe is designed to make the impossible possible, and barring that, giving Kensley the gift of time to allow medical advances to rid her of this monster.
Kensely started radiation on December 30, 2019 and was able to ring the bell signalling the end of radiation on February 13, 2020. At the end of March she traveled with her family to Seattle, Washington and started a clinical trial for the experimental drug ONC 201. The family spent 9 weeks in Seattle and returned to Oklahoma at the beginning of June. She and her mother travel back to Seattle every 9 weeks for testing and doctors visits.
Any funds raised will be used to cover medical bills, and costs associated with out of state clinical trials and experimental treatments that will be needed to fight this.
Kensley is the daughter of Shane Graham and Tawny Shelby.
*This has been edited for clarity and updates.
Kensley is scheduled to start the Car T-cell Therapy trial in Seattle sometime in February. She will get infusions every two weeks for 6 months. We will have to stay in Seattle for the first 8 weeks. When they release her to come home we will have to fly back to Seattle for infusions every two weeks.
Until the trial starts in February, we will still be traveling to Seattle every 9 weeks for the Onc 201 trial.
When we go back in February we will have to fly and will most likely stay in an Air BNB or some other furnished short term rental. Unless things change in the next few months, it sounds as if Ronald McDonald house won't be an option because of Covid. Also because of Covid, we cant take public transportation so we will have to rent a car for at least part of the time that we are there.
There is history being made right now and our girl will be part of it. Sweet, Brave Emily, was the first patient to get intracranial Car T-cell Therapy infusions. Kensley should be #4!
Kensley is a 10 year old “Choctaw girl!” Choctaw is a small suburban community in Oklahoma. In almost every way, she is a normal, spirited, active 5th grader...with one big exception- She is in a fight for her life with an inoperable brain tumor.
At a school board meeting in November, Kensley accepted the Superintendent’s innovator award for starting the Buzz, a newspaper at her school. Her goal when she grows up is to be a nationally recognized reporter for a major publication.
In December 2019 in the span of just a few weeks, she went from a normal and healthy 9 year- old, to a kid fighting an inoperable tumor on her brain stem.
It started as what we thought was a tummy bug, trips to the family physician and then to Children’s Hospital ER with non-stop vomiting. A CAT-Scan revealed brain swelling and suggested a brain tumor. The doctor immediately prepped her for surgery to implant a shunt to decrease the brain swelling, and ordered an MRI.
The tumor she is fighting is rare and highly aggressive. This GoFundMe is designed to make the impossible possible, and barring that, giving Kensley the gift of time to allow medical advances to rid her of this monster.
Kensely started radiation on December 30, 2019 and was able to ring the bell signalling the end of radiation on February 13, 2020. At the end of March she traveled with her family to Seattle, Washington and started a clinical trial for the experimental drug ONC 201. The family spent 9 weeks in Seattle and returned to Oklahoma at the beginning of June. She and her mother travel back to Seattle every 9 weeks for testing and doctors visits.
Any funds raised will be used to cover medical bills, and costs associated with out of state clinical trials and experimental treatments that will be needed to fight this.
Kensley is the daughter of Shane Graham and Tawny Shelby.
*This has been edited for clarity and updates.
Organizer and beneficiary
Shelley Goodell
Organizer
Oklahoma City, OK
Shane Graham
Beneficiary
