Support the Mares Family

Hi, my name is Dani-elle and on Monday (05/30), I received a call from my best friend LeiLani. Her 4-year-old son Daniel Westley had blood in his urine, needed to go to the ER, and she wanted to know if I could come over to watch the baby. I immediately went over, and off they went. Never in a million years did I expect what happened next... the doctors discovered that little Daniel, sweet 4-year-old Daniel, the Daniel that was at my house two days prior running and laughing throughout the house, the Daniel who was having fun at the zoo just hours earlier, has kidney cancer. No, you did not read that wrong... CANCER.

Doctors believe it is a Wilms' tumor (a rare kidney cancer that primarily affects children), and will be removing Daniel Westley's right kidney, some lymph nodes, and other surrounding items on Friday 06/03. During surgery, they will also be exploring and checking to see if the cancer has spread beyond the kidney.

The "good" news here, is that they caught it early, scans look good, and Daniel Westley has a second kidney. He will have a cool scar and can now join the "one less body part" club with his parents (who have had a gallbladder and appendix removed).

Once Daniel Westley recovers from surgery (3-5 days at OHSU/Doernbecher), and dependent on the test results from the tumor, he can start chemo (and likely no radiation needed). Chemo will take 3 to 6 months.

Daniel Westley, his family, and medical team can use all the positive thoughts, love, energy, vibes, prayers that they can get, so please send them their way!

In addition to spiritual support, the Mares family will need financial support. They have a rough, long road ahead of them. Anything to help with lost wages, gas for hospital/treatment visits, meal deliveries, medical bills, (and hopefully some fun stuff too) would be greatly appreciated.

Please feel free to share this post/link, and if you prefer to send gift cards, food/meal delivery services (Door Dash, Grub Hub, Instacart) would be very helpful throughout this journey. They can be sent to me (contact me directly or via GoFundMe)

On behalf of the Mares family, thank you for your support and love!