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Meet Nicholas: March 2017
Nicholas’ mom writes, “Nicholas was diagnosed with Metastasized Ewing’s Sarcoma on March 10th, 2015. 5 days before his 8th birthday. His main tumor was in his right tibia. He had a spot on his hip, spine, and lesions on his lungs. He also had a tumor in his heart. In March 2015 he had open heart surgery to remove the tumor in his heart because they could not treat him with it in there. It would have shriveled up and broke apart and went in his lungs and killed him. He had his port placed in April 2015. He started strong chemo in April 2015. He finished in October 2015. 
He started maintenance chemo on December 2015 and stayed on it until January 2017. He also had radiation to the tumor on his leg and the one on his hip and spine. He had good scans until his scans on January 11th, 2017 when during a PET scan they found a spot on his right hip. On February 6th 2017, he started strong chemo again. He will do 5 days then have 2 weeks off. We were supposed to start a new cycle Feb. 27th, but due to his counts still being low we have to start a new cycle on March 6th. He will have 2 weeks off. Then the week of March 20th they will do scans again to make sure the new chemo is working. And then we will start radiation on the spot on his hip.”
This road is so long and is an up and down roller coaster for all who are asked to travel its path. Please pray for Nicholas and his family, for healing, comfort, and strength to endure. Pray for Nicholas’ upcoming birthday on March 15th that he will have an amazing 10th Birthday without having to think about chemo or hospital visits!
Happy 10th Birthday friend, may you celebrate and enjoy all the things turning DOUBLE DIGITS has to offer!
Guinness World Records™ Title Attempt for Childhood Cancer Awareness Press Release
Upcoming events
3rd Annual Battle of the Bands Photos
3rd Annual Battle of the Bands
Join us for our 3rd Annual Battle of the Bands fundraiser event! This event, held at the awesome Ned’s Irish Pub in Herndon, is always a ton of fun for all. We are excited to bring back some of our favorite bands to battle it out while introducing a few NEW rockin’ bands this year! Entrance is free, donations are collected at the door, we will have our always popular BOTB event merchandise, Alex’s Army merchandise, lots of super awesome raffle prizes, trivia games and prizes, and MORE!
Be sure to like us on Facebook and follow our BOTB event page for exciting announcements and updates — You won’t want to miss this event!
For those who want to make a night of it, we have arranged a room block at the Embassy Suites Hilton Dulles Airport which is only 2 minutes from Ned’s! This atrium style hotel includes continental breakfast in the morning and has a beautiful pond in the lobby. Our event rate is $85.00/night for a double or queen bed room, rooms can be booked directly through the hotel using the group code ‘Alex’s Battle of Bands’.
Spread the word and let your friends know you’re coming on Facebook.
Kids Helping Kids Care Packages
Our 2016 Kids Helping Kids Care Package Donation Drive was a GREAT success! With the donations we received just last year we were able to fill over 350 care packages which were mailed to children and families whose lives have been impacted by various childhood cancers as well as to 6 different Children’s Hospitals in the U.S. Pictures of last years’ event are below.
Hospitals we reached in 2016 included
*Inova Fairfax Children’s Hospital, Falls Church, VA
*Children’s National Medical Center, Washington DC
*Pediatric Specialists of Virginia Clinic, Falls Church, VA
*Kosair Children’s Hospital, Louisville, KY
*UVA Children’s Hospital, Charlottesville, VA
*Children’s Hospital of St. Louis, St. Louis, MO
Our 3rd Annual Kids Helping Kids Care Package Donation Drive is about to kick-off in March 2017, and we are looking for participation from local Northern Virginia Area Schools and Organizations to help us reach even MORE hospitals this year!
Attached on this page are information pamphlets that you can use to reach out to your school or organization. Contact information for this years’ drive can be found on the attached Letter of Support. We will walk through step by step with your school or organization, so that you have everything you need to make your drive a success!
Our Kids Helping Kids Care Package Donation Drive is a GREAT way for kids in the community to GET INVOLVED and to help their classmates whose lives have been forever changed by childhood cancer!
Thank you in advance for your continued support.
It takes an Army to fight Childhood Cancer…TOGETHER we are Alex’s Army!
Alex’s Army Brochure
Letter of Support
Generic Drive Flyer
Elementary School Flyer
Middle School Flyer
$100,000 donated to support REST study
Alex’s Army is incredibly pleased and humbled to have presented a check to Dr. Jeffrey Dome, MD, PhD, in the amount of $100,000.00 to Children’s National on Thursday, Dec. 29th, 2016.
Dr. Dome is the chief of the Division of Oncology and the Division of Hematology and is also the chair of the Renal Tumor Committee for the Children’s Oncology Group (COG). He oversees clinical trials for Wilms tumors and other childhood kidney cancers in more than 200 children’s hospitals. He holds the Thomas Willson & Lenore Williams McKnew Professorship in Pediatric Oncology and has authored more than 30 articles and textbook chapters on pediatric kidney tumors.
Funding from this grant will support the REST study which is an immunotherapy trial for patients with high-risk solid tumors including Ewing sarcoma, Wilms tumor, Neuroblastoma, Rhabdomyosarcoma, Soft tissue sarcomas, Osteosarcoma, and Adenocarcinoma. The idea behind the study is to harvest T-cells from patients, grow them in a lab, and “train” the cells to target the WT1 protein (and two other proteins called survivin and PRAME). Once the cells are “trained” to target these proteins, they are given back to the patient in hopes of better fighting off the cancerous cells. An impact report will be provided for updates on the study progress.
Witnessing firsthand the harsh effects of chemotherapies on our children, we have great interest in helping to fund less toxic treatments that will reduce long term side effects for pediatric patients. This type of immunotherapy trial was a perfect fit to the type of research Alex’s Army was hoping to support with our 2016 research funding. Our Board voted unanimously on funding this trial and on Thursday members of Alex’s Army traveled to DC on Thursday to meet with Dr. Dome and his team.
This donation was made in memory and honor of our sweet Alex – and too many other children who have had to leave us too soon. This check was ONLY possible because of the ARMY of supporters who this past year have prayed, sponsored, donated, and come alongside our organization to make a difference for children and families impacted by various childhood cancers. We thank everyone who helped make this possible truly from the bottom of our hearts. While this trial came too late for our sweet Alex, who as many of you know passed away in June of this year, we are hopeful and will be prayerful that this treatment will bring researchers a few steps closer to finding cures and that the patients who have the opportunity to enroll in this study will find healing.
It takes an ARMY to fight childhood cancers and TOGETHER we are Alex’s Army!
Alex’s Army is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization whose mission is to raise awareness to the lack of funding for childhood cancers, to provide funding to further research with a focus on Wilms Tumor, and to provide support for the childhood cancer community through faith, hope, and love.