The evening we spent in the emergency room with Luke, our 3-year-old son was the darkest moment of our lives. Our 3 children are our meaning and joy. Two doctors walked in to tell us our son’s tremors were due to an orange sized tumor in his head. Life left our bodies at that moment. Crushed and dazed we sank into disbelief. We could not comprehend our world without him or the life he would not have a chance to see. Silently screaming from pain, we held onto our son as he sang himself to sleep. It was the longest 12 hours of our lives.

The following morning Dr. Peter Chiarelli, our Neurosurgeon, walked into our room. There was only one question we asked- Is there Hope?

The answer was YES! After a 9 plus hour surgery, our beautiful son is with us today happily playing and his normal self.

WE WANT HOPE TO BE THE ANSWER FOR EVERY PARENT!

What we learned through this experience is that our Neurosurgeon Dr. Peter Chiarelli is not only a physician but part of an innovative team at CHLA. The team is currently developing transformative treatments, one promising modality is the use of nanoparticles-molecules which are a thousand times smaller than the average cell. This treatment would focus on a Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPGs), which are the most lethal type of common brain tumors among children. They form around the brainstem and are extremely difficult to treat because surgical removal is not possible, and hundreds of clinical trials testing chemotherapies against the tumor have failed. Dr. Chiarelli's new treatment approach, specifically targets the cancer cells rather than giving standard radiation which is absorbed everywhere, sparing the normal healthy cells in the brainstem. This ultimately may unlock the door to treating various types of cancers and tumors throughout the body.

PLEASE HELP US GIVE ALL PARENTS AND CHILDREN HOPE AND CURES TO SOME OF THE MOST DIFFICULT TUMORS WHICH ARE UNTREATABLE.

All donations are directed to Dr. Chiarelli's work and making this possible!

Here is a link with more information about Dr. Chiarelli's recent advancements:

https://www.chla.org/blog/physicians-and-clinicians/surgeon-takes-aim-lethal-childhood-brain-tumor