In February of 2025, our granddaughter Zoe Damjanovich started experiencing episodes of anaphylaxis requiring many doctor visits and ambulance rides. After months of appointments at Fairview in Hibbing, Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis and the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Zoe was diagnosed with idiopathic mastocytosis/idiopathic mast cell. This tells us they have a name but still no reason can be found as to why these episodes are happening. During these tests, we also discovered she has a hormone disorder and will need to receive hormone therapy to help her grow. An MRI was ordered in October to make sure the pituitary gland was not the issue. The MRI showed the pituitary gland was fine, but it showed a brain lesion in a different area. After more trips to Children’s Hospital and Mayo we decided to move everything to the Mayo Clinic. It has been determined that the lesion is a brain tumor on her right temporal lobe. The plan was to wait until the beginning of 2026 to verify that the tumor hasn’t changed. In November 2025, Zoe started experiencing more and more symptoms. Mayo ordered an EEG that showed that she seems to be experiencing absence seizures. Since symptoms seem to be advancing, Zoe’s medical team has decided that the tumor needs to be removed. She will be having brain surgery to remove the tumor early in December.

Zoe has been trying to keep her life as normal as possible when she can. She loves being a goalie and has been trying to get as much ice time as possible as she knew surgery may be a possibility. Zoe continues to be very strong and positive – she is a rockstar! My daughter, Samantha Damjanovich and her boyfriend Ben Nelson, continue to care for Zoe and their son Theodore, work as much as possible (shout out to her department for being so understanding and helpful) and attend her EMT course classes.

The funds raised on this page are to help with travel expenses, food, day-to-day living expenses and loss of wages due to travel.

Anything helps. If you prefer to donate direct – please feel free to contact one of us.