Starting September 1st, 2014, Labor Day weekend, Kate started to vomit periodically. We believed this may have been due to a food allergy of some sort. We contacted Kate's pediatrician for an appointment. After this checkup, the Pediatrician gave us a checklist of items that may have caused her to feel ill. She additionally suggested we do the biggest item on the list first to rule it out immediately, this was a MRI of Kate's head.

 

We scheduled the MRI and took Kate to Children’s Hospital, and they found an inoperable mass at the center of Kate's brain. We were told that this mass was inoperable due to the location. After a lot of blurred conversations with the Neurosurgery team, they scheduled Kate for her first surgery the same evening. This surgery reduced the amount of swelling on Kate's brain as well as provided a biopsy to be sent off for identification. The biopsy finally came back as Pilomyxoid Astrocytoma . Kate immediately started heavy intravenous chemotherapy. Over the years since diagnosis, she has been on and off several different regimens. This latest treatment is a chemotherapy in pill form that seems to have stabilized the mass until the next clinical trial opens.

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Kate has been a true inspiration battling cancer with the numerous pokes, jabs, scans, treatments, surgeries, and the unsettling fact of the unknown. There have been many ups and downs and through it all she keeps smiling, laughing, and bringing joy into everyone’s lives around her. She has had an amazing support system from the beginning that is continually there for her when the need arises.  She is a True Warrior battling this tumor that has redirected and changed her life forever.

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Anyone who knows Kate, she loves crafting, which might even be an understatement. She crochets, makes keychains from Resin, creates fidget buddies and so much more. With our numerous visits to Children’s, she quickly became aware of “Child Life Services” that operate in Children’s Hospital. Child Life offers many services that make the day lighter which include animal assisted therapy, creative arts therapy, therapeutic recreation and so much more! As parents we cannot express how much the staff and personnel meant to our family during these times. To Kate, Child Life took the anxiety, stress, discomfort, and nervousness away from visits and let her simply be the playful kid she deserves to be. They provided everyone with a sense of normalcy through some very difficult times.

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Kate wants to give back to Child Life Services and show off her AMAZING crafting skills. Starting in the month of September for Childhood Cancer Awareness month Kate has created her brand of bracelets that will be for sale at Nanny Belles Ice Cream in Summit Park, Blue Ash. These are all hand crafted by Kate, packaged, and signed by Kate. She also wanted to throw in some extra swag (as she calls it), the package also includes some stickers. A portion of this sale will be donated back to Child Life Services, helping their relentless journey of making the Children’s lives brighter and these days a little bit easier.

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Please show your support for Kate and the Support of Child Life Services at Children’s Hospital Cincinnati. Their impact on sick children going through such a rough time is truly amazing.  Thank you for the Callahan’s and especially Kate Callahan!