“Athena has a brain tumor.” In March 2018, we heard words no family should ever hear about their little one, and everything since that moment has been surreal. Over the next year, I spent over 260 nights in the hospital with her, fighting - and one of the most shocking things that I learned was that childhood cancer actually isn't that unusual. In fact, every 2 minutes, a child is diagnosed with cancer worldwide. But what's worse is that 1 in 5 who are diagnosed in the US will not survive. I am thankful that Athena has - but not all of her hospital friends have. Childhood cancer is a harsh and brutal disease, and I want to see that change.
The stage was set for a shave on March 14th, but the world had other plans. Our shave event was postponed for COVID-19. But cancer doesn't wait, and these kids need help NOW - so I held a virtual event from our home as we followed the "shelter in place" order from the county, and on March 22, I did something else surreal - I shaved my head. If you know me in person, you know that I'm often identified by my hair. It's over 44 inches long - almost as long as Athena is tall! And I shaved it, because I want to join this fundraiser for what can literally be lifesaving research for cures and better treatments for children dealing with this diagnosis.
Join me by donating, and share the link to help others learn how they can help! Our family, and the families of so many other children, thank you for your support.
