Join Harper's Fight Against Cancer and Stand Up for Kids with Rare Cancers.

Harper is a 1.5-year-old warrior who has been battling stage 3 ovarian cancer since she was 10 months old. While perfectly healthy up until that day in November, her dad noticed a hard mass in her abdomen while changing her diaper. We took Harper to pediatric urgent care as well as her pediatrician, and the doctors believed this mass was due to constipation. As her parents, we pushed for an ultrasound, believing in our gut that something was not right, and as a result, on 12/3/2024, doctors discovered an 11 cm Sertoli-cell ovarian tumor that had already spread to her lymph nodes. Nothing can prepare a parent to hear the news that their child has cancer. Harper's cancer is incredibly rare and, according to her doctors, the youngest recorded case of this tumor that they can find. With very little information out there, her doctors have been working tirelessly to come up with the best plan for treatment, not knowing whether chemotherapy will work and if so, which drugs will be effective.

Harper is being treated at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and has demonstrated strength, resilience, and bravery through every step of this battle. The day after discovering the tumor, she had surgery to remove her ovary, fallopian tube, and some pelvic lymph nodes. Since then, she has received 7 rounds of chemotherapy as well as the awful side effects that come with it. Harper had two more 8-hour surgeries (in March and June) to dissect retroperitoneal lymph nodes that were infected as well. With such little information available regarding Sertoli-cell tumors in babies, Harper continues to be monitored frequently with MRI scans as well as PET scans. We are hopeful that the worst is behind us but are also very aware that any changes on these scans will lead to further surgeries and treatment.

Hope for Harper

Harper demonstrates her resilience and strength every single day. She has the chubbiest cheeks and the best smile. From the time she was 10 months old, she endured 3 major abdominal surgeries, impacting her core strength and ability to learn to walk. With the help of rehabilitation doctors, physical therapists, and custom orthotics, at 19 months old, Harper began to walk. Within weeks of learning to take her first steps, she was already trying to ride her big sisters' scooters around. Harper is a force to be reckoned with, and despite so many nights spent in the hospital, the chemotherapy, needles, anesthesia, surgeries, scars, hair loss, neuropathy, medicine, and vomiting, she wakes up happy and with the biggest smile on her face. While only 20 months old, Harper speaks in sentences and loves to boss her parents and sisters around.

Your Support Helps

We have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support from family, friends, and strangers. So many people have reached out over the last 10 months through messages, care packages, meals, or simply asking how they can help. We never imagined ourselves to be in this position, but the love and support we have received has helped us through some of the most difficult days. Harper's mom has taken leave from work for the time being to help support her through ongoing doctor appointments, scans, and physical therapy.

While we do not yet know what Harper's medical expenses will look like long-term, we have been managing for now. We hesitated to set up a GoFundMe for that very reason. However, through many generous and caring people reaching out, we recognize that many people want to contribute in a meaningful way. Funds raised will go directly toward Harper's medical care and related expenses as well as funding research for rare pediatric cancers through MSK.

How You Can Help

Your support, whether through a donation, sharing this page, or simply keeping Harper in your prayers, means the world to us. Every contribution, big or small, will help support Harper's fight while also advancing research to give hope to other children battling rare cancers.

We have an amazing team of doctors at MSKCC. Harper's oncologist, Dr. Julia Glade-Bender, surgeon Dr. Justin Gerstle and Talia Sauerhaft, NP, are just a few of the incredible heroes fighting tirelessly for our little girl and other children battling rare cancers. They have provided exceptional care and unwavering dedication. We are beyond grateful for their expertise, compassion, and commitment to advancing treatments for children like Harper.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for standing with us, for Harper, and for every child fighting this fight.