Alexis Runyen
Piper Irias
Jeremiah Reedy
Vincent Nowroozi
Xavier Ortiz
Caden Davis
Lucas Brown
Because dear Lucas you were a complete joy and abundant light to all that knew you. Your dad and my heart grew greater than we knew possible the moment we met you.
Megan Martin
Shailey Kimmel
Celia Cosentino
Julia Adams
Chloe Koenig
Anthony Myers
Benjamin Reinhold
Blaze Troutman
Kierra Broadwater
Liam Simpson
Juwan Adams
Scarlet Ornelas
Michael Gallagher
King Singh
Riley Rejniak
Skylar Maganda
Yomary Velez
Gemma Cecil
Troy Viveros
Arelio Mercado
Arelis Rodriguez
Vincent Lucchese
Camden Martinez
Taylor Rose Schmidt
Hozhoonii Suer
Lylah-Jean
Ayden Brown
Cristinia Astacio
Antonio Gomez-Colon
Laynee Costello
The life-threatening battle was over for now. The chemo caused extensive tooth decay and physical delays, but hey we were out of the woods. Laynee worked tirelessly with PT and OT at both St. Christopher’s and the local school district to “just be a regular kid again.” We enjoyed nearly two years of clean scans and that oh so joyous phrase “no evidence of disease,” until two weeks ago. Laynee went in for her routine scans when “no evidence of disease” was off the table. How could this happen when rhabdomyosarcoma? This was not the plan. What else could we do besides wait on the biopsy of both the original tumor site and her bladder (where the new tumor was found). After days of an agonizing wait we got the news we were hoping not to hear, both sites are positive for rhabdomyosarcoma. Laynee will not only be undergoing intense multi-drug chemotherapy but radiation as well. This Friday Laynee has her PET scan and next week bilateral bone marrow biopsies to see if her cancer has metastasized. After that, her port will be placed on Wednesday during the bone marrow aspiration, and chemotherapy will be started immediately after.
Best case scenario Laynee will have local spread, and hopefully, the chemo and radiation will be enough (we were warned that her ovaries would have to be frozen to preserve fertility and her bladder will most likely be destroyed, leading the nephrectomy tubes). This next line is the most challenging line to write; if her cancer has metastasized, there is nothing more we can do but attempt to prolong Laynee’s life since it will have become terminal.
Kyanna Harris
Virginia Rose Vandermark
Isabella "Bella" Conroy
Ariel Rodriguez
Brayden Zackon
Mason Kosmoski
Angelina Miele
Reynaldo Flores
Rey had another tumor September 5, 2017, we decided to go to Washington to children’s hospital to do trial medication, but it didn’t work, so they decide to remove the tumor at Hershey. It went great but less than a month later two more tumors grew, they decided to remove the cancer on Dec 19, 2017, Dec 20th MRI was conducted, and they found a small tumor that wasn’t initially visible. Due to the location, he was not a candidate for surgery. January 9, 2018, he went in for a gamma knife procedure and Sunday morning Jan 28, 2018, he suffered two seizures. Monday morning Jan 29th, 2018, they found two new tumors. We are waiting to hear what treatment he can get to avoid the tumors to get any bigger.
Rey can’t catch a break he has missed the whole school year. He can’t do much but t sit and play ps4 or watch movies or sleep due to him being nauseous or restless nights!
Please keep Rey in your prayers as he continues to fight this cancer!
Board Members from Laney’s Legacy of Hope traveled to CHOP on Feb 16 for the grant presentation.
Childhood cancer is rare, which is one of the reasons it can be very difficult to treat. Only 4% of the federal budget for cancer research is devoted to pediatric cancers. Unfortunately, many cancer drugs and treatments are not approved for children, and some of the options that do exist are dated from as far back as the 1980’s.
Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) accounts for approximately 20 percent of pediatric leukemias. It is a very aggressive, fast-moving form of cancer with limited treatment options. Current chemotherapy regimens achieve long-term cure in only 60 percent of children. Relapsed and chemo-refractory AML make up more than half of childhood leukemia-related deaths.
AML is what Delaney suffered from. She was treated with chemotherapy, full-body radiation, and bone marrow transplant. Just when she appeared to be improving, the AML returned and there was no further treatment for her.
Board Members with Kevin Kane, Director of Development in the Center for Childhood Cancer Research at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
Researchers at the CHOP Center for Childhood Cancer Research are creating and testing new therapies that would specifically help children like Delaney who have no further treatment options for their AML. The treatment is called Immunotherapy, and trains your own cells to fight the cancer cells. This is cutting edge, ground-breaking work that will give hope to so many families.
The Board of Laney’s Legacy of Hope met the man in charge of it all, Dr. Richard Aplenc, on Feb.16. We were humbled and honored to meet him and to learn that our $100,000 was exactly the amount of additional money that was needed to get this therapy into production. He expects to be able to treat the first children in December of 2018!
Laney’s Legacy of Hope Board Members present $100,000 to Dr. Richard Aplenc and his wife, who is a researcher involved with his immunotherapy treatment for AML. Left to Right as pictured: Nicole Plank, Jenell Wolf, Dr. Tina-Glisovic Aplenc, Dr. Richard Aplenc, Jennifer Capone-Brown, Marybeth Olree & Alissa Vail.
We are more inspired now than ever to keep doing what we are doing with Laney’s Legacy. 40% of all money raised at our fundraising events, such as the Fashionista 5K, the golf tournament, and the Golden Gala, goes to our Research Fund. We are looking forward to the day we can present the next check! Thank you to all of our supporters who made this possible over the years!