I'm shaving my head with St. Baldrick's to raise money and help conquer kids' cancers! Every 2 minutes a child is diagnosed with cancer worldwide, and 1 in 5 of those in the U. S. will not survive. This year I’m doing it for Blake. Please take the time to read this story. Blake has been a handful since the day she was born. She is a dangerous combination of clumsy and fearless. She climbs on everything and thinks head first is the only way down. As a baby she was always sick and at two years old she still doesn't sleep through the night. She has always had terrible separation anxiety (loves her mama!!) and she knows how to holler when she doesn't get her way. She gets into (or onto) everything. She has an attitude but....this kid cannot stop smiling!!! She is ALWAYS happy. Blake's pediatrician referred her for an ultrasound after feeling a lump in her belly during a routine 18 month wellness visit. The ultrasound confirmed a mass on her left kidney and she was admitted at Arnold Palmer Children's Hospital that day. A CT was done the next day which confirmed Blake has a rare kidney cancer called Wilms Tumor. While Blake has always kept her family on thier toes, they were never prepared for this diagnosis. 4 days later Blake underwent surgery to remove her entire left kidney and the tumor. The surgery went well and the findings were excellent. Blake's cancer was found early and was considered Stage I. She was expected to make a full recovery and did not require any additional treatment. A 3 month follow up scan showed devastating news. The tumor had metastasized into the lungs. While this is common for Wilms it was statistically not supposed to happen in Blake's scenario (considering age, genetic factors and the biology of her tumor). Both her family and doctors were shocked. This upgraded Blake's staging to IV. Just a few weeks before Blake turned 2 years old she underwent another surgery to do a lung biopsy and place her chemo port. She immediately started on her path of treatment which spans 28 weeks and includes both chemo and radiation. So far Blake is handling treatment well and has had minimal side effects. She has remained her happy, dare devil self and is still smiling. Blake's family is blessed with an amazing support system. Thier family, friends and community have all stepped up. They have great insurance and flexible employers that are helping them through the journey. They love and trust their medical team, who ensures them this is a very curable disease with proven treatments. They remain positive and have peace in the fact that Blake is really too young to understand what's happening and hopefully won't remember. They continue to focus on the task at hand and constantly brag about how much they have to be grateful for. As of today, Blake's prognosis remains "excellent". Blake's family struggles with a way to give back for such great care they have received. So as a way to say thank you, with thier family, friends and community's help, they have participated in numerous fundraisers over the past few months. St Baldricks is especially important to them because no matter how excellent the prognosis may be and no matter how smooth the process goes, it's still one no family or child should ever endure. St Baldricks funds childhood cancer research. They exist to "change these realities".