A Jewel That Never Stops Shining

Honoring all the young fighters embarking on their journey against cancer starting in her brain.

Jewels childhood cancer journey begins with a brain tumor…..

In June 2013, Jewel began to have a number of symptoms that went un-diagnosed for weeks. She had low grade fevers along with head, neck, and stomach pain. Jewel began to get tired much more often and began loosing weight due to a lack of appetite. After numerous trips to her pediatrician, a consultation with an infectious disease specialist, and blood tests that were all negative, an MRI was ordered revealing Jewel had a brain tumor the size of a golf ball growing out of the optic chiasm.

On July 3rd, Jewel was admitted to the intensive care unit and the following Monday had surgery.

The surgeon was able to safely remove around 60% of the tumor. Countless friends,family, and members of the church came to visit which became a routine Jewel was quite fond of. She recovered well and was discharged July 15th excited to celebrate her 3rd birthday on August 10th.

Results are in…….

After enjoying some time back at home it was far from over as her biopsy results diagnosed Jewel with pilomyxoid astrocytoma- A type of brain tumor. Three days after her birthday, she had surgery to place a port and began chemotherapy. After an induction phase of 10 weeks, she had two weeks off before starting eight 6 week cycles of 4 weeks on and two weeks off. She has MRIs every three months to monitor the tumor which has responded well to chemotherapy and remained stable over the last several months.

“Care packages and support from organizations like Keaton Raphael Memorial have truly been a blessing. Assistance with gas money and co-pays have relieved a lot of stress for our family. Jewel loves the monkey blanket she received and Elliott has had lots of fun with his rattle. We were able to attend the Keaton Raphael Memmorial holiday party last year and we all had a great time. It was really good to spend time with other families dealing with childhood cancer.”- Mother of Jewel

Jewel has been able to maintain most of her normal activities including attending preschool regularly and playing with her little brother Elliot. She doesn’t let any of this slow her down from being a kid reading books and dressing up as the princess she is.

Jewel’s vibrant personality continues to sparkle through it all.

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Meet Keaton’s Kiddo – Kodiak

In the Fall of 2023, Keaton’s Kiddo Kodiak was diagnosed with two rare and aggressive forms of cancer: Mixed Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) and Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) also known as ‘preleukemia.’

Their journey began one year earlier, in the Fall of 2022, when Kodiak was struck with a series of different seasonal illnesses. Kodiak’s mom Tonya shares: “In September, he got COVID, and then in November it was the flu, and then December RSV.”

Meet Keaton’s Kiddo – Ellora

Months before a clear diagnosis, Ellora was experiencing a loss of appetite, night sweats, and oversleeping. For Ellora, these symptoms were seen as normal for her or seen as natural changes in the growth of a 2-year-old. Eventually, she developed little spots on her hands and unexplained bruises on her body, which the doctors deemed Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP), but after seeing an informative TikTok video on the symptoms Ellora was experiencing, her mom’s gut told her it was something more than a bleeding disorder.

Meet Keaton’s Kiddo – Samerah

14-year-old Samerah, best known as Sam has been battling quite the challenging journey, but with the love and support of her family, friends, and community she has been able to overcome so much. At the very young age of 2 months old, Sam was diagnosed with Neurofibromatosis. Neurofibromatosis is not an isolated disorder. It causes several different conditions and can lead to the development of tumors on the brain, spine, and the nerves that send signals between the brain and spinal cord.

Hope, Strength, and Healing for families coping with a child cancer diagnosis

A Jewel That Never Stops Shining