My Nonprofit Reviews

Brooklyn was born December 13th 2011. She was a normal, active, happy baby and toddler. She loved going for walks to the park with mommy and daddy. On June 1st 2013 Brooklyn was diagnosed with Stage 3 Neuroblastoma at 17 months of age. Her symptoms came on quite suddenly first starting with vomiting, eye darting, startled easily, uncontrollable muscle movements, and not being able to walk normal.
Brooklyn’s journey began on May 22nd with her new pediatrician Dr. Linda Bolton. Blood and urine test was done that day. Both came back normal. Our next visit was to the Neurologist. Dr. Rashmi Gupta. An MRI and EEG were ordered. Results showed her brain was perfectly normal. Her next appointment was with the Ophthalmologist Dr. Rou. We found out she is very Far sighted and will need glasses for the next 10-12yrs. The doctor said that the eye darting, vomiting and muscle movements had nothing to do with her eye sight. Later that day. I received a phone call from Brooklyn’s Neurologist. She asked me to come in. She ordered a chest X-ray and a CT-scan of her abdomen. She also wrote down the word Neuroblastoma and told me to research it. The chest X-ray was done on May 31st. Her CT-scan was done on June 1st. After a Long day we finally get home. Brooklyn is in her bouncer and daddy is asleep on the couch. I get a phone call from Dr. Linda Bolton telling me to meet her at her office in 30 min. I asked her to tell me anything about the results. She said “I think it’s best that all 3 of you come in so we can talk and pack a small bag for Brooklyn because she will be going to the hospital” My Husband and I began to cry. We drove to her office not knowing what was going, but knew it was going to be bad news. We were told our daughter has a tumor in her abdomen near her spine.
Brooklyn was admitted to Beaumont Children’s Hospital in Royal Oak right away. Many tests were ordered along with a Biopsy on her tumor. Brooklyn had a Meta-port implanted in her chest during her biopsy. Her biopsy came back positive stage 3 neuroblastoma. Her MYCN came back non-amplified and favorable histology. Bone marrow test came back negative and so did her MIBG scan. Chemotherapy began on June 7th. Today is June 20th 2013 and Brooklyn's hair is begining to fall out. We are praying that her tumor is shrinking. Brooklyn's 2nd cycle of chemotherapy begins June 28th. Today is July 16th Brooklyn is completely bald now, but beautiful as ever :) She goes for CT scan in the morning. They will be looking at her Chest, Abdomen, and pelvis. We get the results on thursday july 18th. We are praying her tumor is shrinking. Results are in but still not ready for surgery. She will begin her 3rd cycle of chemotherapy on Friday july 19th. This is a 3 day stay. She did great this round :) cycle #4 chemo will be August 14th. This visit is a 24hr stay. She did ok with this one too. On Monday Aug. 19th Brooklyn was admitted due to not eating or drinking well and also reacurring symptoms. She is having full body tremors and is not eating, or talking very well. She is not able to sit, stand, crawl, or even walk on her own. Another diagnosis for her was confirmed. Opsoclonus Myoclonus Syndrome. (OMS) Brooklyn is now fighting two battles. We took her to see Dr. Pranzatelli in Illinois. He is the ONLY one specializing on (OMS). He video taped her at the visit and did a Lumbar Puncture to collect spinal fluid. He is also a scientist. We now have a protocol for our doctors to follow so they can treat her. Brooklyn is currently getting nightly ACTH injections and IVIg treatments for her OMS. Brooklyn cannot walk so she is also getting physical therapy to help her with that. Her oncologist scheduled her for an MRI on August 28th to check the status of her Tumor. We recieved a phone call the very next day from her oncologist stating that her Tumor is growing and that we need to continue Chemotherapy treatments. September 1st Brooklyn began her 5th cycle of Chemotherapy which was a 3 day stay. September 24th 2013 Brooklyn began her 6th cycle of chemo. This time around her Chemo was scheduled for 4 days. She will also be getting IVIg treatment & ACTH injections. 2 new chemo agents were introduced. One of them called Cisplatin caused her kidneys to leak. Her Phosphate levels began to drop. Our 4 day stay turned into 9 days and Brooklyn was tranported to the PICU. She was treated with potassium and magnesium and we were sent home with some too. On October 3rd We took Brooklyn to the University of Michigan to see the Neuroblastoma specialist for a second opinion. He and the team of doctors recommended that Brooklyn have another MRI & MIBG scan done soon. Brooklyn's MRI was done on October 10th and the results showed no change. Her MIBG scan will be done on October 22nd & 23rd. The team of doctors & specialists will have a meeting after her scan and go over her results and come up with a plan together. After the meeting with the doctors & going over their findings they have discovered that Brooklyn has some lesions on her spine. They also said that now is the best time to go in and remove as much of the tumor as possible. Brooklyn has gone through 6 cycles of chemotherapy. Her surgery is scheduled for November 7th @8am. The Surgeons went over everything with us including her scans. We were able to see pictures of what this Beast looks like. They also Showed us the lesions on her Spine. We were not even aware that they were present. Our previous Oncologist never mentioned them to us. The treatment she was getting was the correct protocol. Brooklyn's Stage is changed from a 3 to stage 4 Neuroblastoma Please Keep our Brooklyn in your thoughts and prayers!
Her tumor resection went really well :) They removed 90% of Brooklyn's tumor in her abdomen! She had a very hard recovery which took 10 days. 8 days in the PICU & 2 on the PEDS floor.
On December 2nd, 3rd, & 4th She began her 7th cycle of chemotherapy. She took the treatment very well. Her incision is healing very well and she is back to playing again.
December 30th Brooklyn completed Cycle #8 of chemotherapy. Her oncologist said No more Chemo!!! These last two cycles should've killed whatever was left inside my baby Lets PRAY it did because I don't want to put her through anymore chemotherapy or any other treatment. I just want her cancer free. January 22nd & 23rd Brooklyn will have scans done again to see if there is anymore cancer left inside her. She will have an MRI, CT, MIBG, & ECHO done all in the same day.
Brooklyn's CT scan was negative! Her MRI & MIBG scan was not. They did a urine test to check her VMA & HVA levels. they were still elevated. The doctors think its most likely scar tissue from her surgery back in November. Tests and scans will be repeated on April 23rd & 24th.
Today Brooklyn is in Remission. We thank God everyday for this Blessing and pray the Cancer stays away forever! Brooklyn is still Battling with her OMS and is still in treatment at Beaumont Rose Cancer center in royal oak. She also needs a medication called ACTH. This is injected into her thigh muscle every other day. This keeps her from having body tremors and eye darting. Her IVIg treatment makes her get sick after a couple of days. She is also on many other medications to help her live a somewhat normal happy life.
Angel's of hope was there to help us when we needed it the most. We struggled financially during Brooklyn's fight and Angel's of hope assisted our family so that we can focus on getting our daughter better. Thank you Angel's of hope for your kindness and generosity.

My Daughter Brooklyn was Diagnosed with Stage 4 Neuroblastoma in June 2013. She was only 17 months old. My husband Ken and I were crushed when we learned that our baby girl had a tumor growing inside of her abdomen. We also learned that she has OMS. (Opsoclonus Myoclonus syndrome). Our lives changed and the hospital became our second home. Life was becoming more difficult with the bills coming in and not being able to work. Our daughter needed us and we needed her more. Angels of hope stepped into our lives at the perfect moment. They helped ease alot of stress from our lives during this heartbreaking time so that we could focus on getting our daughter better. Our family could Never thank you enough! Today our Brooklyn is still battling her OMS and is still currently getting chemotherapy treatments. She is due for her Mibg, and MRI scans on October 23rd. Our family is praying the cancer stays away. She is a little fighter and our HERO