Courageous little warriors you've shared hope & encouragement with. . .
F2FBP touches the lives of kids through distributing copies of Pass Love Along through their partnering children's hospitals and delivering Sunshine Baskets in appropriate cases. Due to HIPPA regulations, we don't have the opportunity to personally meet all the 1000's of kids we've shared our Sunshine Baskets and copies of Pass Love Along with. Fortunately, the Child Life Departments (#EverydayHeroes) of the hospitals do a wonderfully compassionate job of helping us share hope and encouragement by distributing our books and Sunshine Baskets for us.
Below is a sampling of the kinds of kids and their medical challenges that we've had the privilege of personally reaching out to. I wish we had photos to put with every story but that is not always possible. You'll notice there are a few adults listed who are mostly parents of students we meet in the schools. We are finding out the book ministers to adults too. Also, parents of kids who have friends battling life-threatening illnesses are buying the book to help their kids connect with and more fully understand the battle their friends are facing and to be a voice of hope in their lives.
Finally, please use this list and our F2F Community page as a kind of visual prayer list to pray for these little warriors
Savannah, Lebanon, TN. Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital. Battling Medulloblastoma which is the most common malignant brain tumor in children. It originates in the back part of the brain called the cerebellum. In up to 1/3 of cases, it can spread to other parts of the brain and spinal cord. Sweet Caroline had her surgery at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital in Nashville; her proton radiation treatment at Boston Children's Hospital and her chemo back at Monroe Carell Jr. She is quite the warrior. Ronda and I had the privilege of visiting her and her amazing family at their home.
Kaden, 2-year-old, West Texas. EOE plus Crohn's disease. “Eosinophilic esophagitis is a recognized chronic allergic/immune condition. A person with EoE will have inflammation of the esophagus. In EoE, large numbers of white blood cells called eosinophils are found in the tissue of the esophagus. Normally there are no eosinophils in the esophagus. The symptoms of EoE vary with age. In infants and toddlers, you may notice that they refuse their food or are not growing properly. School-age children often have recurring abdominal pain, trouble swallowing or vomiting,” (American Academy of Allegy Asthma & Immunology). Met his aunt Jessica at a convention.
Hilldale Elementary (Okla) Kindergarten teacher with bone cancer. ( March 2017)
Fifteen-year-old that became a special needs student due to an accident. Reads on a first-grade level, a myriad of health issues and needs a kidney. (March 2017) Glen Rose, TX
Blake, 5 year old, Leukemia stage 4, Huntsville (April 2017)
Davis, 8-year-old, Leukemia, Chattanooga, TN. Erlanger Children's Hospital. (October 2016)
author Ronda Friend hamming it up with Davis at the Chattanooga Farmers Market. What a delightful kid and a fighter.
Emilee, 7-year-old, 2 heart surgeries at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital, Vanderbilt University. Complications with her aorta. Met her at an outdoor festival. (July 2017).
Bennett, 5-year-old, HLHS or Hypoplastic left heart syndrome "is a complex and rare heart defect present at birth (congenital). In hypoplastic left heart syndrome, the left side of the heart is critically underdeveloped." (Mayo Clinic). Bennett has had 5 open heart surgeries already. Chattanooga TN. Patient at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital. July, 2017
Axel, 5 year old, Leukemia, Minnesota
Zoe, 5-year-old girl with TARS, Lexington, KY. "Thrombocytopenia Absent Radius Syndrome is a rare disorder that is present at birth (congenital). It is characterized by low levels of platelets in the blood (thrombocytopenia) and absence (aplasia) of the long, thin bones of the forearms (radii). Other abnormalities are often present including additional skeletal defects such as absence or underdevelopment of the other bone of the forearm (ulna), structural malformations of the heart (congenital heart defects), and kidney (renal) defects." (Nat’l Organization for Rare Disorders). Zoe has no radial bones and has club hands. (May 11, 2017)
Ava, 2-year-old, Colorado Springs. Has an autoimmune condition that is destroying her organs. At Denver Children's Hospital. Met her pastor's wife at a convention. June, 2017.
Noah, 6, battling Lymphoma. Nashville, TN. Has lymphoma anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) which is a rare type of Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma but very responsive to chemo. Got a good report yesterday (7/12/17) that he finished his chemo back in March and had a recent CT scan and still is in remission. His parents also revealed his hair is growing back!!! This is a picture was taken on Dec. 23, 2016.
Student at Ft. Worth Christian school whose mom has cancer. (May 2017)
Summer, a little girl whose mom passed away from cancer. Middle TN area. Met at a convention.
A 6-year-old boy with a mother that has breast cancer, (May 2017). Met at a convention, Lebanon, TN.
This delightful couple we met at the Franklin Main Street Festival who were visiting from out of town. Their little grandbabies were preemies up at Monroe Carell Jr. Hospital and had been there for a few months. It was a shot in the arm to receive a copy of Pass Love Along to share with their son and his wife. (April, 2017)
Conlon, 4-year-old, Wilms' tumor, Baltimore, John Hopkins Children's Hospital. Wilms' tumor is a rare kidney cancer that primarily affects children. Also known as nephroblastoma, it's the most common cancer of the kidneys in children. Wilms' tumor most often affects children ages 3 to 4 and becomes much less common after age 5. (info, Mayo Clinic)
Bella, 8-year-old, Clarksville, TN. Osteo Sarcoma Cancer of the arms and lungs. Tumor removed and bone marrow transplant of the humerous bone. Her mother works for our book printer, Jostens. (July 2016).
Zoe, 7-year-old, Franklin, TN. Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital, Nashville. 7 Kidney surgeries. (Oct. 2016)
Christian, 5-month-old, has Gastroschisis which is a birth defect of the abdominal (belly) wall. The baby's intestines are found outside of the baby's body, exiting through a hole beside the belly button. We met grandmother at one of Ronda's elementary school author visits. October 2016
Addy, 4-year-old, 4 heart surgeries to date, has Pulmonary Atresia/Intact Ventricular Septum - The pulmonary valve does not exist, and the only blood receiving oxygen is the blood that is diverted to the lungs through openings that normally close during development. (Amer.Heart Assoc). Houston area. Met grandparents at an outdoor festival.
Caroline, Tulsa, OK. Leukemia. Caroline is the little 5 year old girl in F2FBP's book entitled "Pass Love Along."
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