PADRES PEDAL SUPERKIDS

Angelina is a hero to many. She has been through more than most adults and is stronger than you can imagine. This girl is strong, sassy and very spirited. She’s certain that “hot lava pink” is her color. Baked Bear is her treat of choice and Elsa, from the movie Frozen, is her role model. As quoted by her Mom, “she’s our little firecracker. Her name is Angelina Vittoria, which in Italian means Angel of Victory.” Victorious she will be!!!

After a year of being in remission, Bella’s mom started noticing the right side of her body getting very weak again – she would fall down and favor her left side. This time, the weakness even started to affect her vision. Angelica took Bella back to Rady Children’s and they received the heartbreaking news that the tumor had returned. Bella immediately had to start chemotherapy again in August 2016. This time, Bella’s treatments have been not quite as intense, but she is still back at Rady Childrens’ every 2-4 weeks for chemotherapy.

Bella has a 9 year old sister named Lisset and 7 month old little brother named Sebastian. She is very shy but as she becomes more comfortable she turns into a “comedian,” and her favorite TV show is Peppa Pig.

Caden’s parents are both scientists at biotech companies doing cancer therapy research and clinical development. They never realized their personal life would cross paths with their professional lives in this way, “it gives our work more meaning” says Caden’s Mom.

Cash is our warrior and fighter! He just turned 4 years old on October 5th, and has already been through so much. Cash received seven, full abdomen, radiation treatments at the Moore’s Cancer Center at UCSD. He just finished his 11th round of chemotherapy at the Peckham Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at Rady Children’s Hospital.

Support from our family, and friends (old and new) is so vital to Cash’s recovery and our family’s cancer journey. You never expect your child to get cancer. No one does, but there are many of us out there as childhood cancer is NOT rare.  Everyday, 46 children are diagnosed with cancer, and 7 children will die.  Our family is dedicated to Cash wholeheartedly, and we will fight for more research to help find a cure for this horrible disease.

By May 2015, our once strong, loving and kind little boy struggled to cope with his new reality. But the hardest for Lota was realizing he was no longer the same when spending time with his peers. By August that same year, we learnt the tumor had grown back AGAIN!!. Lota became angry, aggressive and impulsive. Many times he begged us to just let him die. When he attempted to hurt himself, we admitted him to the children’s neuro-psychiatric hospital. It was the hardest thing we had to do but we knew it was the right thing to do for our Lota.

During this time, we earnestly sought out other treatment options and found a laser ablation treatment in Minnesota that sounded promising. The laser seemed to slow the tumor’s growth at first. Lota was thriving, and we thought we had found Lota’s cure. 2017 was a quiet year for Lota and our family, treatment-wise. During this time, our family moved from Utah to San Diego for Dad’s work.

As a family, we were very excited to write a chapter on our big move and finally find a cure for Lota. However, our excitement was quickly overshadowed by what the MRI scans showed in March. Lota’s tumor had grown again, and was now an oversized golf ball. We immediately connected with our team in Minnesota and a team at Rady Children’s. They both agreed laser ablation was not an option for treatment, and since chemo and radiation have been proven to not treat this kind of tumor well, we were looking at another craniotomy. Our hearts were once again shattered, because we know this part of the story all too well. We know that every time Lota undergoes a craniotomy, he returns to us a different boy, and his five siblings have simply accepted this fact, and learn to love a different brother again.

On June 11, Lota went in for his third craniotomy for tumor resection – it has proven to be a long and rough recovery. Lota fought resiliently to get better, but three weeks after the craniotomy, a shunt surgery was ordered to help drain the fluid buildup in his brain.

Lota came out of the shunt surgery battling delirium – as his mother I felt helpless and scared for my boy. It’s hard seeing your warrior turn into an angry, confused, and aggressive creature overnight. This was the hardest part of this chapter of our journey. But with patience, a great medical team and faith, we have embraced many tender mercies and small miracles along the way.

The great news is, the neurosurgeon was successful in removal the whole tumor this time and since being home, Lota has been the most patient, understanding and forgiving person I know. He is patient, even with all the 10+ appointments he has every week. He smiles in situations that would make any normal person go insane. He tells you that all his therapy sessions suck but he still goes, and he still does the work that is required.

We are excited to be part of the Padres Pedal the Cause this year and do our part in helping raise money for more cancer research as we fight for a cure for warriors like our Lota.

On October 26, 2015, Myer was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Myer and his family have created a wonderful bond with the nurses and Child Life Specialists at the hospital. Thankfully Myer is currently in remission, however, he will be receiving Maintenance treatment until February 22, 2019. He plays on both a baseball and basketball team. He enjoys living life to the fullest and not letting cancer and his treatment get him down! Myer looks forward to you being a part of the Super Boy Crew!

Unfortunately, a year post chemo Riley relapsed to his brain where they found high-risk Neuroblastoma. After a scary craniotomy and enduring a total of 21 rounds of chemotherapy Riley’s scans now show no evidence of new disease! He is currently taking part in a two year trial investigating a medication called DFMO which has had promising results so far.

Riley works intensively with Physical, Occupational, Music and Speech Therapists. He loves to sing and dance, play with his big brother Braden and be active outdoors participating in adaptive ski lessons at Mammoth Mountain through Disabled Sports Eastern Sierra or visiting his Make A Wish inclusive playground in his neighborhood community park.

He is a beautiful little boy whose courage and strength is inspiring. Please join us for our support of Super Riley and his family!

Before the diagnosis Ryker loved to play with animals, especially the new born goats  and chicks at his grandmother’s farm. He loves sharks, whales, waterfalls and going to the model train museum at Balboa park. Ryker is a train fanatic and can answer any train related question asked to him. He also loves to go swimming with Mia, the family dog and his best friend. Because of Ryker’s compromised immune system and long hospital stays he hasn’t been able to do many of these things for quite awhile. The treatment plan will be a total of 3.5 years with a 5 year goal to cure.

Ryker recently entered into maintenance phase on June 4 after a stressful 10 months of intense weekly/daily chemo protocol and he was cleared to go swimming for the first time since diagnosis! This current phase consists of once-a-weekend in-clinic chemo treatments per month, nightly oral chemo and a steroid medication. This new phase will last approximately 2.5 years.

On October 10, 2017, a CT scan revealed that Sarah had Lymphoma. Specifically, Sarah was diagnosed with a very rare, high grade stage 3 Burkitt lymphoma of the intra-abdominal lymph nodes. The cancer had originated in her pelvis with two large masses and had quickly spread, through her blood, into her lymph nodes, her head, and behind her eyes. The days and weeks following her diagnosis were a blur – Sarah’s treatment plan was necessarily aggressive and included surgeries, blood transfusions, chemotherapy, and lumbar punctures. The side effects of her treatment were staggering as she endured hair loss, infections, significant weight loss, fevers, and severe fatigue. Amazingly, on January 26, 2018, the Lozaz received the best news: Sarah was in remission. While she still has several months of maintenance chemo to weather, Sarah is finally able to see the light at the end of the tunnel and is looking forward to a time when she can return to her life as an active and energetic girl.

Sarah’s spunky, daring, and strong-willed personality has continued to shine, despite all of the difficulties she has had to face. Her family, friends, and treatment team at Rady Children’s Hospital have been wowed by her spirit and strength. While in-patient at Rady Children’s, Sarah noticed that many of the children at the hospital were isolated and unable to connect with other young patients, either because it was too risky for them to leave their rooms or because they were too shy to do so. Sarah and her mom came up with two wonderful programs aimed at allowing kids to connect with others who are similarly situated. The first idea, “CHAT with Champs,” places walkie talkies on the counter at the nurses station. Kids can freely come up and grab one to begin to chat with others. The second idea, “Get to Know You Jenga,” was conceived after Sarah noticed that children were often very reserved and hesitant to initiate a conversation even during organized social gatherings at the hospital. Sarah used a label-maker to add fun questions to each block in a Jenga game with the hopes that it would serve as an ice-breaker and prompt children to engage and feel more comfortable with their peers. Both programs have been great successes and have allowed Sarah and others to connect with fellow warrior kids facing tough challenges. Additionally, Chat with Champs is now a non-profit organization and is working to bring these programs to more pediatric hospitals, because no child should fight cancer alone. Sarah is so thankful to God for her miracle and grateful for her amazing oncology team at Rady’s Children’s Hospital. We are forever thankful for the support and love of our family and community friends as we could not been able to do this without them.

The tiny cancer-slaying superhero has wowed everyone with tenacity with which she’s approached this mission — she’s remained her sweet, energetic self through her treatment, and takes all her medicines with an enthusiastic “Yup I can!” Zainab loves to dress up, go to the beach and play with bubbles. She’s had to put school on hold to focus on her treatments. These days, she enjoys play dates at the hospital playrooms, visiting with her nurse friends and visits to the gardens. Zainab has one big brother, Amaan, who rides in the Superhero Kids challenge in honor of his sister!