These Parents Want You To Get 'Mad As Hell' About Pediatric Cancer

Like most 4-year-olds, Phoebe Dooley loves toys, animals and stories. She has a wild imagination, a great sense of humor and a wisdom beyond her years. Her favorite color is pink. Unlike most 4-year-olds, Phoebe is battling an aggressive brain cancer that is notoriously difficult to treat. With the help of an altruistic photographer, Phoebe’s parents want to shine a light on their daughter’s story and encourage people to donate to cancer research. On March 22, 2016, Phoebe was diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), a brain tumor that affects approximately 300 children in the U.S. each year. Her parents, both doctors, had noticed her eyes crossing and head turning slightly when she watched television and brought her to an eye doctor. Though the doctor felt nothing was wrong with Phoebe, he recommended a precautionary MRI, which revealed the tumor in her brain stem. At their first consultation, Phoebe’s neuro-oncologist shared information about DIPG with her parents, Sarah and Cole. “It’s actually one of the worst kinds,” Cole told The Huffington Post. “It carries a vary grim prognosis. Phoebe’s doctor told us that there have been no significant improvements in the treatment of this disease since the 1960s.” Because of the tumor’s location in the brain stem, surgery is generally not an option, so the standard treatment is about six weeks of radiation, after which many kids experience tu...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news