Avery, one of five St. Baldrick’s Ambassadors in 2013, attended her first head-shaving event this month at McMullan’s Irish Pub in Las Vegas. Avery’s mom, Stephanie, tells the story, with photos by Melissa Jacks Photography.
This was an amazing first event for our family. Until now, we had only heard about the great things that St. Baldrick’s does for kids’ cancer research, so we were thrilled when we got the invitation to come see an event in action at McMullan’s Irish Pub in Las Vegas.
As I sit here and reflect on our last year, I can’t help but be overwhelmed with an extreme range of emotions. I can truthfully admit I wasn’t sure if Justin would be here this Christmas, not that I didn’t have HOPE and not that I didn’t think he could prevail, but because we didn’t have any treatment options available to us. Justin had multiple relapses, weakened bone marrow, low platelets and an ANC that was consistently low. We mustered through each day over the last holiday season, put a smile on our faces and prayed for something to turn up. Justin wasn’t ready to give up; I wasn’t ready to give up.
Test test
Krissy Dietrich Gallagher is a Cleveland mother of two boys, Braedan, 8 and Austin , 5 (who insist on being identified as 8 ½ and 5 ½). In July 2007, at the age of 10 months, Austin was diagnosed with bilateral Wilms tumor, a solid tumor cancer in both kidneys that occurs in a mere 20 children nationwide each year. The Gallaghers were thrust into a world of chemotherapy, hospital stays and four abdominal surgeries before Austin was declared cancer-free eight months later. But after one glorious year, the cancer was back. More chemo, radiation, overnights and enough surgeries to cost him his entire right kidney and half of his left. Today, Austin is a relatively healthy, extremely happy and remarkably normal five-year-old (ahem, 5 ½ year old) despite living with Stage 3 renal failure. He is one of five St. Baldrick’s Foundation 2012 Ambassador Kids. The post below was adapted from one Krissy wrote for Mother’s Day 2010, when Austin was still in treatment, on her blog The Luckiest.
This is a caption for the photo you see above. It should be slightly less wide than the image above it.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Maecenas libero justo, mollis vel tempus ac, posuere quis mauris. Praesent suscipit ligula at nibh dapibus adipiscing. Pellentesque pretium ultrices euismod. Nam in eros in nulla cursus aliquam in vel lectus. Proin luctus ultricies diam, eu ullamcorper turpis adipiscing vitae. Aliquam vitae fermentum lectus. Maecenas vel diam nisl, commodo posuere nulla. Integer rhoncus ullamcorper massa euismod consequat. Sed libero orci, placerat sed pretium quis, rhoncus id quam. Nunc pellentesque euismod faucibus. Fusce diam ligula, dictum nec bibendum ut, viverra nec eros. Curabitur imperdiet condimentum quam adipiscing dapibus. Etiam quis est vel eros semper sagittis. Etiam consectetur placerat pretium. Phasellus ultricies neque vel tellus posuere luctus. In at tortor est.
This is a caption for a centered image. Does it look really cool?
This is a caption for a centered image. Does it look really cool?
This is a caption for a smaller side aligned photo. What do you think?
This is a caption for a smaller side aligned photo. What do you think?
Proin congue imperdiet ipsum, convallis sodales lacus bibendum in. Aliquam risus tortor, fringilla nec elementum id, aliquam vulputate tortor. Quisque cursus dolor rutrum diam commodo vel sagittis turpis condimentum. Quisque ut elit eu tortor commodo fermentum eu id turpis. Vestibulum vestibulum condimentum massa id cursus. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Nulla facilisi. Nam quis lectus vitae magna euismod blandit sit amet sit amet elit. Ut ut sem libero, ac viverra diam. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Nunc neque nulla, eleifend interdum ultricies at, elementum a libero. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.
Sed at velit lorem. Donec in urna nisl, quis vestibulum nibh. Praesent sollicitudin, dui id volutpat aliquet, magna enim adipiscing tellus, eget pellentesque arcu metus et lectus.
Sed at velit lorem. Donec in urna nisl, quis vestibulum nibh. Praesent sollicitudin, dui id volutpat aliquet, magna enim adipiscing tellus, eget pellentesque arcu metus et lectus. Nam quam orci, placerat id volutpat sed, dapibus id nisi. Aenean a nunc quam. Vestibulum est lectus, adipiscing non posuere sed, lacinia sed leo. Ut tellus magna, cursus et tincidunt ac, egestas sit amet elit. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Duis euismod leo ut eros commodo semper. Etiam vehicula odio a sem dignissim ultricies. Maecenas vestibulum sollicitudin semper. Nunc quis rhoncus augue.
Praesent sollicitudin, dui id volutpat aliquet, magna enim adipiscing tellus, eget pellentesque arcu metus et lectus.
Nunc vel mi in ligula condimentum tincidunt. Integer eleifend dolor eu nulla pretium imperdiet interdum dolor imperdiet. Nunc quis tellus varius mauris eleifend interdum. Praesent laoreet sapien libero. Proin non felis vel dui sagittis scelerisque. Cras nibh enim, eleifend et interdum posuere, lacinia in magna. Mauris at dui sed tellus eleifend tempor id vitae diam. Etiam non nibh turpis. Nullam dolor velit, vulputate sit amet congue vitae, molestie non ante. Mauris et dolor risus.
Proin congue imperdiet ipsum, convallis sodales lacus bibendum in. Aliquam risus tortor, fringilla nec elementum id, aliquam vulputate tortor. Quisque cursus dolor rutrum diam commodo vel sagittis turpis condimentum. Quisque ut elit eu tortor commodo fermentum eu id turpis. Vestibulum vestibulum condimentum massa id cursus. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Nulla facilisi. Nam quis lectus vitae magna euismod blandit sit amet sit amet elit. Ut ut sem libero, ac viverra diam. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Nunc neque nulla, eleifend interdum ultricies at, elementum a libero. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.
St. Baldrick’s Foundation
1333 South Mayflower Avenue, Suite 400
Monrovia, CA 91016 USA
(888) 899-2253 · sbinfo@stbaldricks.org
The St. Baldrick’s Foundation is a non-profit 501 (c)3 organization, IRS identification number 20-1173824.
Donations made to the St. Baldrick’s Foundation are tax deductible in the U.S. · Privacy Policy
SBF Tweets »