Mod EDIT - Hey Everyone, Daniel/Julius here. Chris/"Howard the Duck" reached out to me about this yesterday and asked if he could post it in the water cooler section of the board, but since he's been such a part of our community here for so long I thought I would be good to get the word out wider. Read his story below and if you are moved to help out please do so. Thank you.



Hello, AFi. I wanted to ask you to at least read this. It's in regards to my oldest child, Ella. She is six years old and may be very close to needing chemotherapy for a brain tumor.

Ella was diagnosed with something called neurofibromatosis last year. Also called NF1, it is a genetic disorder in which tumors can spontaneously form on nerves throughout the body. We found out about it via a routine vision test, as it was believed that she merely needed glasses. It turns out that she had growths on her optic nerves which affect her vison. She was confirmed to have NF1 after further testing. She has semi-regular MRIs(every three months) to monitor her head and brain for any growths. Two weeks ago, we found out that an area in the back of her brain showed a growth which had doubled in the last three months. Her MRI schedule has been accelerated to every eight weeks. If her very next MRI shows any additional growth, we will have to start chemotherapy treatments to help reduce or eliminate the growth.

I will be participating in the Race For Hope on November 4th in Philadelphia, PA. It's run by the National Brain Tumor Society. My family will be there walking to support Ella and others like her who are coping with their illnesses. Our team name is Hope For Ella. There is a team fundraising page, the link is here:

http://www.braintumorcommunity.org/site ... m_id=56502

We are walking to support our Ella in any way that we can, and by raising money to help those like her in their fight against brain tumors. I'll be there wearing my Blue Lantern Corps t-shirt under my Green Lantern hoodie(I may have given up buying and reading DC Comics, but the spirit of such concepts as Hope and Will have always meant a lot to me as you probably already know) I want to thank Daniel/Julius for his blessing in posting this, and thanks to the mods as well. Should anyone here wish to donate, you can do so at the link provided above. Thank you very much:)

Chris, aka AFi's Howard the Duck

Best wishes to your little one and your family. So sorry to hear this.

Aw, man, Howard.

Best wishes to your family during this terrible ordeal.

I wish you, your Daughter, and your Family all the best in this trying time.

I've pledged my support (hopefully to the right team).

God bless my friend.

Very sorry to hear this. I wish everyone in your family all the best during these times.

Very sorry to hear this, keeping good thoughts and prayers for your daughter.

Chris,

Your daughter and your family will be in my prayers. I'll pledge support to your team.

There's not much more I can add that hasn't been said already.

It's always so much more heart-wrenching when you hear about a young child - in my job as a benefits adviser these are some of the most difficult stories I hear.

Our thoughts are with you.

Jo

Oh wow, Howard, I am so sorry to hear this. My thoughts and prayers are with you, Ella and the rest of your family.

Howard-
I'm so sorry to hear about this. It's always awful to hear about someone getting sick but when it's a child it makes it so much worse. Take care of your little one and keep your head high. You and your family will be in my thoughts.

I've just read about it. I wish the best to you and all your family, specially to Ella. She will be in my prayers, and if I did this correctly I just give suport to Hope for Ella too.

Magog

I'm so sorry to hear this Howard. Ella will be in my thoughts and prayers.

Hello, AFi! I want to thank all of you for your support, whatever form it may have taken. I apologize for not checking in sooner, but my internet access went down last Saturday. I'm checking in on my wife's work computer.

I hope to have a photo or two of the Brain Tumor Walk posted here when I can. And I will personally thank any and all donors when I get my trusty internet back up and running. Until then, I just want to shout out a general 'Thanks!' from myself and my family. Take care, AFi'ers!

Chris, aka Howard the Duck!