SuperKids

BELLA

Diagnosis: Brain tumor

Age: 5

Favorite foods: Pizza, Mac & Cheese

Favorite activities: Making faces and dance parties

Fun Fact: She is very shy but, as she becomes more comfortable, she turns into a comedian!

Bio: Bella was diagnosed with a brain tumor in March 2014, and had to immediately have 2 brain surgeries only 3 weeks apart. When Bella’s mom, Angelica, realized that the full right side of her body was very weak, it was determined that Bella needed to start chemotherapy. She began a regimen of 16 months of chemotherapy and finalized her last treatment in June 2015. She was then stable and in remission for one full year – her family finally started to breathe easy.

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.

SARAH

Team: Team NuVasive

Diagnosis: Burkitt Lymphoma

Age: 9

Favorite activities: Soccer, piano, art, Girl Scouts, science, and hanging out at the beach

Fun Fact: Sarah helped to create two programs at Rady Children’s Hospital that bring together young, isolated patients to connect with each other

Bio: Sarah is 9 years-old and is the middle child of three girls. She enjoys a close relationship with her older sister, 12 year-old Arianna, and her younger sister, 5 year-old Julieta, as well as her sweet puppy, Ace! Up until Fall 2017, Sarah was a regular girl, excited about entering the 4th grade and participating in her favorite activities: soccer, piano, art, Girl Scouts, science, and hanging out at the beach. However, in early September, Sarah began to experience a myriad of unexplained symptoms that had the family concerned. Multiple blood tests, MRIs and EEGs revealed no abnormalities, but they remained vigilant as our gut instincts knew something was not right.

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.

LOTA

Team: Bill’s Team

Diagnosis: Mature Teratoma

Age: 11

Favorite activities: Trail running

Fun Fact: Lota ran a 50K after his third brain surgery

Bio, as told by his mom, Rowena:
“Lota, a boy born to be a warrior. He is the fourth of six kids; our first boy after three girls in a row. We knew Lota was special the day we held him in our arms and so we named him Lotatoa – meaning Our Warrior in Samoan – his mother’s native language.

At the tender age of 7, Lota fell in love with the mountain trails. Trail running became his favorite past time with his dad. He loved hearing the birds and seeing breathtaking views from the mountain top. So when he was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive brain teratoma on October 17 2014, he used the lessons he learned from his trail runs to stand tall and fight. He had just turned 8 ten days earlier. Within the first six months of being diagnosed, Lota underwent four brain surgeries. The first was for an Endoscopic Third Ventriculostomy, the next – a craniotomy for resection of tumor. Three months later the tumor had grown again, doubling in size, so a third surgery was performed for a biopsy, followed by another craniotomy for resection of tumor.

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.”

BELLA

SARAH

ARITZVE

SOLEDAD

MARTIN

GIDEON

HANNAH

TRAVIS H.

ANGELINA

JAMES

MYER

JACE

ZAINAB

CADEN

CASH

RILEY

RYKER

LOTA