At just nine years old, Grace was diagnosed with germinoma, a rare germ cell brain tumor. It all began when her parents noticed she was drinking excessive amounts of water, and her growth had unexpectedly slowed down. What they initially thought might be diabetes turned into a terrifying journey through cancer treatment.

Aubrey recalls how everything changed in an instant. After an MRI confirmed Grace had a brain tumor, Aubrey felt like she was having an out-of-body experience, overwhelmed by the enormity of her daughter’s diagnosis. But together with her husband, they vowed to remain strong, forming a team to support Grace no matter what lay ahead.

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Despite the grueling treatment, Grace remained strong. The treatments were harsh, leaving her heavily sedated, yet she still recalls the fear. The fear of the unknown, of being different from her friends, of the countless MRIs, blood tests, and spinal taps that defined her childhood. Her last round of chemotherapy was the hardest, three days of intense pain and sickness. But when the doctor finally said, “You’re done,” Grace felt an overwhelming sense of relief.

Aubrey’s emotions were mixed. While she was grateful that her daughter had completed chemo, she knew the fight wasn’t over. Radiation was next, and the lingering fear of recurrence always loomed.

In many ways, treatment was a blur. But for Aubrey, signing consent forms for Grace’s chemotherapy is burned into her memory. “We were sitting there with the doctor, signing paperwork while they did another spinal tap, and it just kept coming—page after page. I tried to read it all, wanting to retain all the information, but it was overwhelming. The side effects were terrifying: secondary cancers, infertility, heart issues, organ failure. My husband kept telling me, ‘Just sign it,’ and I thought, ‘What choice do we have?’ It was either we give her this medicine or she doesn’t survive.”

While the chemotherapy Grace received was antiquated, the proton radiation therapy was not. “Grace is now a bright, well-spoken teenager. The proton radiation helped target the tumor while sparing her developing brain, and I credit the research that developed this innovative treatment for the fact that she has no issues with her cognition.”

Grace’s experience left her empathetic toward other children. “I was so fortunate to have a support system in the hospital,” said Grace. “But I saw kids, some as young as five, sitting alone for chemo because their parents couldn’t skip work. No games, no one to talk to. It broke my heart seeing such little kids go through that by themselves.”

“That experience made me want to give back, so no kid has to hear they have cancer or sit alone in a hospital room. And no parent has to choose between work and comforting their child.”

A year after Grace finished treatment, she and her family became advocates for childhood cancer, sharing their story in the hope of motivating others to fund innovative research, like the treatments that saved Grace while also protecting her quality of life.

Grace, now 15 and a high school sophomore, has faced more challenges in her young life than most people could imagine. This December, she will celebrate six years cancer-free. Though the family is so thankful, they celebrate these milestones in the shadow of the knowledge that so many of the kids Grace met in treatment did not survive. Their journey through cancer was filled with pain and fear, hope, resilience, and a shared commitment to making a difference for others. Today, Grace’s story continues to inspire, and together, they advocate for better treatments and more awareness, determined to ensure no child is robbed of the healthy future they deserve.

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