Hi, my name is Paul Overton and I'm fundraising for the Jessa Button memorial.

Born July 17, 2015, Jessa was the beautiful 7 year old daughter of fellow morning basketball buddy, Jacob Button & mom Molly Negaard.

Jessa was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma on April 20th of 2021. She was immediately transferred to Blank Children's Hospital in Des Moines where she underwent week-long rounds of chemo. In July of 2021 the doctors successfully removed 97% of the tumor in her abdomen during the 10 hour surgery, but unfortunately she lost her left kidney, making treatments harder for her to go through. In September, she went to the University of Chicago for a stem cell transplant and was there until the end of December.

Jessa started weekly rounds of chemo again in February '22. In the early stages of chemo she had a multitude of problems, ranging from Elias (where the gut stops working) to a range of infections. In May, Jessa had complications from the previous round of chemo that causes cdiff and colitis, leading to a month long hospital stay. Her oncologists advised it would be best to discontinue her chemo treatments and finish out her tretinoin treatments. She had an MIBG in May and it showed that she has no cancer left!!!

In July, Jessa started having some pains and shortness of breath so they took her to the ER. Once admitted and having several tests and scans completed her care team informed them that Jessa was in heart failure, had a fungus and blood stream infection. After a week at Blank she was transferred to the University of Iowa as they specialize in pediatric cardiology while Blank does not. Jessa was in high spirits & everyone was praying for a full recovery.

In September, Jessa had a routine Mibg scan that scan showed the cancer returned and it had spread to 100% of her body. Doctor's told Molly and Jacob that Jessa had about 2 months to live as the disease was spreading aggressively.

On December 18, 2022, after enduring such a rigorous battle, Jessa was able to rest her soul, peacefully.

I spoke with Jacob, mentioning that as President of ISAA (Iowa State Association of Assessors) this year, I am able to select a charity to donate funds that are raised. He told me that Jessa would love it if the funds would go to Blank Children's Hospital, speaking very fondly of the care she received while she was there.

Please join me in honoring Jessa's memory with a donation to be given in her name to Blank Children's Hospital in October of 2023.

Thank You!!

Paul