Daniela’s Wish is a nonprofit 100% volunteer organization for the sole purpose of granting wishes of ill children, making dreams come true. 100% of your donation goes straight to granting these wishes.
Daniela’s Wish Board Members are a group of professionals and parents in our community working as volunteers together to raise funds, with the goal of making a positive difference in the lives of children. Granting Wishes, Creating Smiles & Memories. Dreams do come true! One wish can last a lifetime and impact so many.
Our First Wish: Four Children two handicapped, lost everything in Hurricane Sandy, New Xbox for her autistic son, Help rebuilding home
Wish Granted: Xbox and $1550.00 worth of Home Depot gift cards 06/2012
Michael has T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, known as ALL. ALL is the most common type of cancer in children from 1 to 7 years old and the most common type of leukemia in children from infancy up to age 19. ALL affects the blood cells and immune system. There are several ALL subtypes with the type of treatment you receive and your treatment outcome depending on your ALL subtype and individual risk factors. Michael has a very aggressive T cell type with a 60% survival rate versus 90% in most of the other subtypes. . T cell leukemia is extremely rare occurring in less than 10 percent of the cases of ALL. Michael was even rarer as he had cells in his spinal fluid and also a mass in his chest that was surrounding his heart
Wish: drive to Florida to see Mickey Mouse
Wish granted: 8/2012 $ 785.00 gas and expenses gift cards to drive to Florida
Daniel Morin has struggled since his birth in September of 2010.
He has had two open heart surgeries to close holes in his heart and one open heart surgery to replace a faulty valve with a prosthetic valve. Blood transfusions are a common occurrence He is up to 32 of them.
Wish: for hug me elmo
Family wish: New carpet, New roof, netbook computer
All wishes granted: November 2013
Christopher was born on July 21, 2003 with Right Hypoplastic Right Heart Syndrome. This syndrome is when the right ventricle does not grow to the proper size. He was born at The University of Penn and was taken immediately to The Children’s Hospital Of Philadelphia next door. He was admitted to the Intensive Cardiac Unit and placed on a ventilator where he would wait for his first open heart surgery. Two days He did extremely well and was ready to come home on day 10. He suffered a major setback on day 10 after developing an allergy to the blood thinner Heparin. He had a major heart attack and was clinically dead for 45 minutes. We were told to call family members and a priest to baptize Christopher because he wasn’t going to make it. We found a priest and Christopher was baptized. He went back to the operating room and came back that night. He was then put on Ecmo which is a heart lung bypass machine for 24 hours. His chest remained open with clear plastic where you could literally see his heart beating through the clear plastic. Each day Christopher held on. Each day he proved he was stronger. He was on a ventilator for 2 months and then was weaned off slowly. He finally came home at 3 months old in October of 2003. Christopher then proceeded to have 2 more open heart surgeries. His third heart surgery was at 13 months old and his fourth at 3 years old.
His wish: Meet John Cena one day, whom he thinks the world of.
Wish Granted: 12/21/2013 Chris was picked up in a limousine with 2 VIP tickets to Wizard World Show in Philadelphia with a personal meet & greet with John Cena. John Cena gave Chris his very own wristband off his wrist.
Tuberous Sclerosis Complex a genetic disorder that causes tumors to form in many different organs, primarily in the brain. Bella’s TSC was due to a “spontaneous mutated gene” that causes TSC. Some of the complications of TSC results in tumors in most of the vital organs of the body, seizures, cognitive impairment, and behavioral issues.
Wish: for a new scooter
Wish Granted: 12/1/2013
LCH, Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis. It is a rare disease that affects 1 in every 200,000 children. Everyone has Langerhans Cells in their body; they are a part of our immune system. Patrick's cells lost their ability to fight off infection, the cells then clumped together form a tumor & attack the body. On July 12, 2013 Patrick went into St. Peters University Hospital for a routine MRI due to back pain. The MRI revealed a tumor on his spinal cord that crushed a vertebrae & pushed bone fragments up against his spinal cord. Aggressive Chemotherapy was started immediately. 7 weeks later during a hospital stay for an infected medi-port, a bone scan was done & another tumor was found on Patrick's hip. He will be receiving Chemotherapy for the next 6 months, possibly a year.
Wish: robo dog
Granted: 1/3/2014
Sean is five years old and in Kindergarten. He is very active and loves to play Superheroes with his sisters. When he was 4 years old he broke his arm playing at his dads house pretending he was Spider-Man. Sean's broken arm became a very big obstacle for him to overcome. It took a series of five surgeries to correctly heal and set his bone. After the first three surgeries the bone never set correctly and Sean broke the bone again two days before he was scheduled to have his pins and rod removed. After a long healing process of over a year Sean finally had his final surgery to remove the rod in his arm.
Wish: xbox and signed New York Rangers Jersey
Wish granted: 5/2014
Well he has autism....he had a liver transplant at 7 months old. He was born with a liver disease called Biliary Atresia. Rick was his organ donor. Rick needed hernia surgery in 2004 caused by being an organ donor. He currently needs another surgery. The surgeon says his abdomen is weak/ like swiss cheese. The surgery really needs to be done soon but is on hold because of our house issue. Andrew has no gall bladder, or appendix and has 4 spleens. He has never had an MMR or chick pox vaccine because of his transplant. Flu, chicken pox and illnesses like that can be deadly for him. He has been on immunosuppression since his transplant. Just recently the docs discovered a murmur. He has damage to his heart caused by the drug he has been on for 12 years to keep his new liver from rejecting. He now has cardiomyopathy and thickening of his heart wall on the left side which is causing an obstruction. Docs are going to now try to switch his med in hopes of stopping the damage from getting worse. He had a liver biopsy in May and will need another one in November.
Wish: to go to Hershey Park 2 nights with his family
Wish granted: 7/ 2014 - 2 night stay at Hershey Hotel for 5 with park passes to all Hershey Parks & Amusements
The family and friends are uniting to help raise money for their baby's open-heart surgery. Ozzie and Sarah had their fifth baby in May, 2014. Sadly, after 12 days the baby has been diagnosed with an AV Canal Defect, and will require open-heart surgery at 2-6 months of age. In order to prepare for the surgery baby Sofia will need to gain weight and will need to drink a fortifier which is very expensive (average 700 dollars a week).The pediatric cardiologists say this surgery will result in at least a two week long stay in the hospital (In NYC). Unless God intervenes and performs a miracle, there is no way around this surgery. Please join us in supporting them during this scary time. Even a $5 dollar donation made by enough people could lighten their burden significantly! This family believes in God and miracles. The doctors say it's impossible for the heart to heal, but they know all things are possible with God. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all of your support in this tough time.
Wish: for Formula for baby
Wish Granted: 7/2014
diagnosed with a cranippharyngioma that develops from embryonic tissue with no genetic predisposition or causes for developing this. She had most of it removed on July 8th and has recovered beautifully since. We were discharged for around 14 hrs. and returned for leakage of fluid from a superficial pin hole in the back of her head. Still no symptoms from this. They stitched the hole closed to discover meningitis which she is currently half way through her antibiotic cycle. We are expected to leave in around 5 days. This will be a lifelong challenge to prevent any residual she has from growing back, to manage all her hormone medications to control her newly acquired Diabetes Insipidus and to make sure she lives a long and healthy life.
Wish: to go to Dorney Park for family of 3
Wish Granted: 8/2014
Joey was diagnosed at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia on July 4th, 2014 with Burkitts Leukemia. Joey and his family, Bill, Maria and his sister Gianna, are tackling this diagnosis head-on and he continues his fight under the direction for the medical staff at CHOP
Wish: for a new Xbox One with Forza Motorsport 5
Wish Granted: 8/2014
On September 1, 2010 Rich and Nancy of Ocean Township, New Jersey, received news that no parent ever wants to hear. Their not-yet-four-year-old son, Logan, had been diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). But the horror of that news did not stop there. At first it was believed that with several years of chemotherapy, Logan would be among the 80-90% of survivors of this disease and be cancer-free. He was placed in a “standard risk” category. However, in early October, they were struck with another blow. Tests had shown that Logan actually had a very rare type of ALL…hypodiploid ALL. In hypodiploid ALL, the individual does not have all the genetically-complete chromosomes necessary for humans. In this case, the survival rate is 40 – 50% and Logan has now been placed in a “very high risk category” and is currently undergoing a very aggressive chemotherapy treatment. Because of the rarity of his disease, his case was presented to the Leukemia Board at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) who has recommended a bone marrow transplant.
Wish: party at Funtime America
Wish granted: 9/ 2014 Full party Funtime America, Stretch Limo Ride for 8, Cake & Pizza
Tylor Collins diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma at age 15. He has been receiving treatment since May 2014. He is a junior at ALJ High School in Clark, New Jersey. Tylor returned to school this September after missing his entire sophomore year due to treatment. He is excited to return to school and being
with his friends. Tylors hobbies prior to diagnosis was skate boarding, ATV's and mopeds. He was a very active boy who loved fast rides, unfortunately due to his diagnosis and limb salvage his mobility is limited! He has always wanted to see a live UFC fight with his dad and older brother. This is an activity that is fast but he can enjoy while staying seated. Tylor has so much life inside of him and wants so badly to be free and a normal teenager who is in control of his life but just hasn't been able to achieve that just yet, but in due time and God's blessings we know he will very soon!
Wish: to go to Monster Truck Rally in Philadelphia
Wish Granted: Oct 23 2014 Tylor and his family were picked up in a limousine and taken to the Monster Truck Rally in PA with 4 VIP passes & a meet and greet with drivers.
diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). October 9, 2008 our second miracle entered the world. Alexander Maxwell Denberg a/k/a Xander! Everyone who knows him will agree that you have never seen a happier baby! Life was life until October 1, 2009. He needed tubes in his ears and the surgery went very well. You would never know that anything happened to him. On October 2, 2009 he woke up from his afternoon nap screaming like I have never heard him scream before. Assuming it was his ears, I took him to the ENT. It wasn't, so I took him to the ER and they did a belly X-Ray and a belly ultrasound thinking that he had intussusseption. It was negative. We were discharged the next day and he was fine for 2 1/2 days. On Monday night he woke up again with another screaming episode. The next day he had another ultrasound and it was suspicious for intussusseption. We went to the hospital and they performed a barrium enema. Following the enema, the did a repeat ultrasound and found a mass. CT followed and confirmed the mass. The next day we were transferred to Robert Wood Children Hospital. On October 8th he underwent an open biopsy, removal of the appendix, insertion of a central line and double bone marrow biopsy. We left after 8 days to seek 2nd and 3rd opinions. We went to Sloan and CHOP and decided to stick with the Chemo then surgery plan
Wish: party at Funtime America
Wish granted: 11/ 2014 Full party Funtime America, Stretch Limo Ride for 8, Cake & Pizza
Suffers from Psoriasis a common, chronic, relapsing/remitting, immune-mediated systemic disease characterized by skin lesions including red, scaly patches, papules, and plaques, which usually itch. The skin lesions seen in psoriasis may vary in severity from minor localized patches to complete body coverage
Wish: to go to a Giants/Steelers football game
Wish Granted: 12/2014 4 lower level VIP game passes with field passes and passes to coaches corner locker room and interview room.
11 years old today. He is in the fifth grade, but on home instruction through April or May of 2015.
Up until August, he was your average kid who loves sports and playing with his friends. Jack is a year round swimmer on the Red Bank YMCA Aquarockets and he also summer swims for Holmdel. He plays basketball in the Bill Grier League at St. Leo the Great. He plays baseball for the Lincroft Little League and travel baseball for the Lincroft Lightening. He also plays golf, tennis and started surfing last year. Jack also loves watching the NY Giants and NY Yankees. He used to go to games all the time before he was sick. This is all on hold since he was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. The treatment makes him neutrapenic which means his immune system is insufficient to fight off germs and bacteria. He is currently in the middle of 6 months or so of intense chemotherapy at Monmouth Medical Center. Once he reaches the maintenance phase, he should start feeling better and hopefully be able to return to school and some sports. He will have three years of maintenance chemotherapy to help avoid a relapse which is common for his illness.
Wish: for signed autographs from current New York Giants Players
Wish Granted: 2/13/2015
Alexis is the youngest of my 2 kids... she's really had a rough go at life from the time she was born (3 mos early) She was born with multiple craniofacial abnormalities and also a tumor under get brain which was thankfully benign. But she has had to have many surgeries throughout her life to reshape her head and bones in her face. This year.. the day before her 18th birthday..on July 23 she had the biggest surgery of all. They cut away her whole midface and attached a halo to her skull in order to pull her midface forward over the course of 4 months. This allowed her to finally be able to breath while sleeping without a cpap machine and also finally aligned her teeth so that she could finally chew food without choking.... quite a big deal! It was also supposed to give her more of a "normal" appearance. .or so we had hoped. Her entire life she had had to deal with people staring and making fun of her. And now since the halo was removed nov 3.. her face to me does not look normal by any means. The bones are not healing properly and she still cannot wear her glasses. ..so its very hard for her to do anything if she cant see properly. So anyway to say the least it's just been a tough year. I’ve missed a lot of work and got behind on all the bills... my car died so I had to lease a new one I didn't have to worry about breaking down especially going back & forth to children's hospital of Philadelphia so often
Wish: for a birthday Party
Wish Granted: 2/23/2015
Lucas was healthy until he turned 2 has never been diagnosed properly but because doctors cannot find out what is wrong with him. He suffers from seizures, hearing loss, chronic lung problems, heart disease, brain malformation, lennox Gastaut syndrome, a neurogenic bladder, urine and acid reflux. As he gets older his condition has become worse. He is confined to a wheelchair and depends on me for everything. He is like a 4 month old baby.
Wish: for Toy Story Birthday Party
Wish Granted: 3/23/2015
Samantha was born on April 18, 2009(one year later on my wedding anniversary) and she has Congenital Heart Disease, TOF(Tetrology of Fallot). Sammy has had 2 open heart surgeries, ECMO for 8 days, bleeding on the brain, feeding tube for 4 months, RSV shots for 2 years during flu seasons, 2 1/2 yrs of physical therapy, 2 seizures, 6 catheterization surgeries, and she has a stent in her pulmonary artery. Next year, she will have an MRI and the following year will be another Catheterization and more in the future. We are told she will have a 3rd open heart surgery in a few years to help her leaky valves.
Wish: for a Blast Zone Backyard waterslide adventure with ball pit bounce house
Wish Granted: 3/19/2015
Mike is a Helmetta police officer. His son Andrew Michael is a two year old boy. Andrew was diagnosed with a rare disorder called Fibular Hemimelia. This disorder affects the leg(s) and feet of children and makes walking and daily activities difficult. There are only two surgical options available for this disorder. Multiple bone lengthening surgeries or amputation of affected foot and/or leg. Andrew has undergone amputation on June 12, 2014 and will wear a prosthetic foot for the rest of his life. Andrew is a fun loving little boy with a smile that is contagious!
Wish: to go to Hershey Two nights with his family
Wish Granted: 5/2015
Jack turned 11 years old today. He is in the fifth grade, but on home instruction through May of 2015. Up until August, he was your average kid who loves sports and playing with his friends. Jack is a year round swimmer on the Red Bank YMCA Aquarockets and he also summer swims for Holmdel. He plays basketball in the Bill Grier League at St. Leo the Great. He plays baseball for the Lincroft Little League and travel baseball for the Lincroft Lightening. He also plays golf, tennis and started surfing last year. Jack also loves watching the NY Giants and NY Yankees. He used to go to games all the time before he was sick. This is all on hold since he was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. The treatment makes him neutrapenic which means his immune system is insufficient to fight off germs and bacteria. He is currently in the middle of 6 months or so of intense chemotherapy at Monmouth Medical Center. Once he reaches the maintenance phase, he should start feeling better and hopefully be able to return to school and some sports. He will have three years of maintenance chemotherapy to help avoid a relapse which is common for his illness. It's been a rough few months with terrible side effects, blood transfusions Jack had anesthesia, a lumbar puncture, intrethecal (in his spine) chemo and is on a 24 hour iv of high dose methotrexateand. But Jack continues to smile and move forward. Team Jack has been amazing and we could not ask for more!
Wish: for an Ice Cream Party for his whole 5th grade class
Wish granted: 6/2015
Seamus was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia on November 15 2012.
He had a very rough patch the first 2 years, culminating with his gallbladder being removed last summer. He was doing pretty well up until 2 weeks ago when his numbers dropped to zero and he got pneumonia. We were in the Hospital for 2 weeks and were given a week for counts to come up… And they DID! Yesterday we got the news that for now he does not need a bone marrow biopsy. It has been very straining and emotional for our whole family as you may imagine.
Seamus is scheduled to finish treatment in 2016. We are hopeful that his health does not deteriorate more as the first couple of years after treatment are when most side effects and chemo withdrawal symptoms happen. He is an AMAZING kid; he is always smiling, always looking at the bright side of things. He is loved and admired by many! He is our pride and joy as well as his brother. We feel Cancer not only affects one person, but also affects the whole family. Danny has suffered the absence of a parent and of Seamus each time he was at the Hospital. He is too young to understand why his brother gets gifts and he does not. Seamus is super generous with him, hence the request for a gift for both.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR CONSIDERING SEAMUS
Wish: Two Nintendo DS Game Systems
Wish Granted: 7/2015
Jeanne found out she had Stage 4 Lung Cancer which is an illness that is completely consuming her body and soul leaving her barely hanging on with a breathing tube to help her. Jeanne has a very loving caring and supportive family and friends behind her but as many know her two younger twelve year old twin sons Daniel and Nicholas (whom struggle with autism).
Daniel and Nicholas are now in the care of her eldest son Christopher and his family, Fiancee Marissa and daughter Mackenzie who are doing their best to keep the boys on track with their schedules including starting school again shortly.
Jeanne's sister Dolores has been keeping the family afloat mentally and emotionally, looking for all possible resources and support. Jeanne's dad is also doing everything he can to help too. Jeanne's family hasn't had much time to prepare for this tragic outcome that is to follow in the near future but they are trying to do everything in their power to cope with the heartache of the eventual loss of this beautiful soul.
Wish: Xbox one
Wish granted: 9/2015
Devin is a beautiful 12 year old girl her current diagnosis is globally developmental delay which is just something they say when they are not quite sure what is going on. We recently saw a doctor who feels that cerebral palsy would be a better fit so we are waiting to see a physiatrist. Devin also has epilepsy but luckily we have not seen any seizures and have weaned her off her medication we recently had an EEG and are waiting for results to see if she is in fact seizure free. She has had petite mal seizures since birth. She also has low muscle tone throughout her entire body and an eye condition called nystagmus along with delay she has speech dyspraxia. We have been saving for five years now so that we can take her and her sister DeAna to Disney world. Devin loves everything Disney and she is also a Muppet nut. My husband and I have been heavily discussing whether we should do Disney World or a Disney cruise. We love Christmas so we wanted to see Disney decorated. Disney World will be a little tough due to her sensory issues and all the walking. Devin can walk but her muscles tire easily so a wheel chair may have to be rented. We would also have to limit what we do each day so she does not get overloaded. We would like to stay on site so that getting to and from would be easier.
Wish: to go to Disney timeshare with family
Wish Granted: 11/2015
Matthew was born with a birth defect called cloacal exstrophy, which he has had multiple surgeries to repair. Recently we have found out that he has Chronic Kidney Disease. He has been on dialysis since May 2013. He will need a kidney transplant soon. He recently had surgery on his bladder. We currently live in NJ. His transplant center will be in Baltimore, MD. His blood type is A.
Wish: for Santa to visit his house and bring a new Xbox and a bag of toys for himself and his brothers
Wish Granted: 12/2015
Ivy is four years old and lives in Brick NJ with her Mom, Dad and little sister Ava. Ivy got meningitis when she was 6 months old and suffered permanent damage to her body. She has had 3 brain surgeries so far, is fed by a G-Tube and suffered loss in her right arm due to a stroke. Her Dad works really hard in a nail salon but they still have bills to pay and are struggling to make ends meet and stay on top of health care bills. Mom is not able to work since she needs to take care of Ivy’s needs and her 2 year old sister.
Wish: books and toys any kind
Wish Granted: 1/2016
Victoria is a beautiful 2 1/2 year old girl. She lives at home with her 3 older brothers, Joey, Jay-Jay, Tyler and her father Jay and mother Susan. Around October of 2013 her parents noticed that Victoria's head appeared to be getting larger, her limbs appeared to be getting stiff and eyes appeared to be turning outward. After numerous visits to her pediatrician, who said that "it is normal", Victoria's mother Susan, brought her to the local hospital, which determined that she had fluid on her brain. The local hospital felt that Victoria's diagnosis could be better treated at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Shortly after arriving at CHOP, Victoria's parents received the devastating news that their 6 month old daughter had a brain tumor about the size of a tangerine. The tumor damaged her ventricles causing hydrocephalus and bleeding in her brain. The tumor was successfully removed (Benighn) and a week later a shunt was inserted. Victoria's recovery was difficult, and delayed most of her milestones. At approximately 1 1/2 years old Victoria was diagnosed with autism. Her diagnosis required and still requires extensive therapy as well as early intervention. On November 17th 2015, a Biyearly MRI showed that the shunt wasn't working properly, and on December 4th 2015, a surgery was scheduled to do a revision of her shunt. On December 18th, 2015, Victoria wasn't acting her usual self, and her mother Susan brought her to the local hospital where she had a 104.5 fever. After extensive tests, it was determined that Victoria had an infection in the site of the shunt revision. Victoria was then transferred back to CHOP, where she was admitted in the Pedi ICU. On December 19th 2015, the entire shunt was removed, and an external drain was inserted, while the hospital treated the infection. On December 22th, 2015, Victoria had another surgery to insert a new shunt in a different location, of her brain. Unknowing if she would be home for Christmas, Victoria's parents made arrangements for one to stay at the hospital during Victoria's recovery, and the other to try to make a decent Christmas for Victoria's siblings. Miraculously and "A true Christmas Miracle", Victoria was discharged from CHOP at approximately 12pm, Christmas Eve, and was able to share Christmas morning with her family.
Wish: for an Apple IPad 2
Wish Granted: 1/2016
Domenic is 4 months old and received his second open heart surgery two weeks ago. He just came home a few days ago. He has the same diagnosis as my daughter, hypo plastic left heart syndrome. His parents have been through a lot the past four and a half months. His Mom is a nurse, but has not been back to work since Domenic was born. Dad works, but they are living with Laura’s Mom temporarily. Dominick was born July 3rd, 2015 with HLHS, aortic atresia & Mitral atresia. He is an amazing little guy with an infectious smile. We have had two long hospital stays with him, but nothing a little Mickey Mouse clubhouse and some mommy cuddles can’t cure. His strength is amazing. His life, gives our life purpose now & we will forever fight beside him.
Wish: small ride on toy for when he is walking
Wish Granted: 1/2016
Jordan is a 17 year old who had a traumatic experience losing his 9 yr. old brother to cancer. Jordan spent 9 years of his life going to doctors, hospitals and taking care of both his younger brothers through the one brother’s battle with cancer. At 17 the only social life he knew of was in hospitals. I wish Jordan can have a wish just to take his mind off his sadness, even for a moment. He loves paintball, I would love for Jordan to go with 8 friends and enjoy a day of paintball and then a dinner at his favorite restaurant Applebee’s.
Wish: for a day of Paintball and dinner at Applebee’s
Wish Granted: 4/2016
Carly is 15 and is a twin who was born prematurely at 34 weeks. She was diagnosed during my pregnancy with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. She went through numerous open heart surgeries since birth for her condition. Presently, Carly struggling with complications due to her condition and is in heart failure. :(
Wish: To go with her twin, and friends 8 total in a limo to the movies and Olive Garden then back to her house.
Wish Granted: 6/2016
Lori M. was a healthy, active mom until she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012. Prior to that she was a marathon runner, a public school Spanish teacher in Eatontown, she taught English as a second language to immigrants in the Asbury Park School system. She was a Girl Scout leader for 10 years in Spring Lake Heights where she and her family live and have hosted activities such as World Thinking Day where 300 area children have attended each time. Her treatments were not successful, the cancer spread to her brain and spine and now she is terminal and on hospice. These 6 kids are young and their mom (whose life has touched many in both Monmouth and Ocean Counties) is in her final battle with cancer and on hospice. Her husband Kerry of 30 years is now caring for her and their six young children (including triplets). Even though the McBride household has 8, they have always given up time to help others in need. The children have always enjoyed going to Great Wolf Lodge and there wish would be to spend one last family vacation as a family. To see their mom smile and be happy in a moment for all the family to enjoy would be the greatest gift this family could have right now.
Wish: To go to Great Wolf Lodge in a family Premium Suite for a night in November 2016
Wish Granted: 6/2016
Lori earned her angel wings before the family trip; the kids will be going in honor of their mom.
Lucas was diagnosed with inoperable brain stem glyoma's on his brain stem when he was 23 months old, 7 years ago. It has been a very complicated and scary journey but in some ways we are very fortunate. The most important way is that Lucas is still here to fight. He has a very challenging life, he is no longer walking, he uses a ventilator to breathe and he has a feeding tube for nutrition. Of course there are many wonderful things about Lucas' life too, he goes to school each day, takes piano lessons, participates in a special needs t-ball league and he loves being able to spend quality time with his family and friends. I'm also wondering if your foundation might be able to help Lucas.
Two years ago Lucas coded, this was a huge setback as you can imagine. As summer approaches Luca’s wish to have a special swing so he may swing with other children. He's such a special kid; I would love for you to meet him!!
Thank you again for taking the time to read this note and for all of the work you do for families like ours that have to face these unfortunate diagnoses.
Lucas Wish: is for a new handicap swing
Wish Granted: 6/2016
Nico is a warrior from Sayreville NJ. Nico is the sweetest and most polite boy you'd ever have the chance to meet. He was diagnosed with AML FLT3 in December 2014. His disease was very advanced. He underwent many chemo treatments before going to CHOP in May 2015 to have a bone marrow transplant to help rid him of the disease. While at CHOP, Nico underwent chemo and radiation prior to transplant. Nico, unfortunately, is going through a very rough time again.
Nico would like a wish granted to help him forget about what his future holds and to rejoice in the moment.
Wish: He would love to visit Build-A-Bear to get some outfits for his bears and most importantly Mr. Monkey.
Wish Granted: August 2016 $150.00 gift card to shop at build a bear one day.
This is the story of our hero Austin JAK. Easiest way to tell you about him is thru his go fund me page. He was born November 25 2014. And was a 35 weeker. We did not find out anything about his illness and all that was going on in his little body till August 31 of last year. The last year has been hard on us. From Emanuel diagnosis which was hard enough, to a brain tumor and a tumor in his chest. He has had 16 surgeries since September 11, 2015. He is having his palate surgery the first week in Sept. as well as an Abr to find out if he can hear and what they can do if anything to help with it.
Wish: to go to Split Rock resort in Poconos and stay in a family 2bdr suite for 2 nights
Wish granted: August 2016
Dylan is an amazing boy who will be turning 7 on Jan 25, 2016. We received the devastating news that he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia this past August and have been undergoing his treatments since. It will be a long and tough 3 year journey but both Elissa & I are determined to ensure he beats this and celebrate. Dylan, like most little boys, is my little Curious George, always getting his hands in things and constantly asking 'Why?' His imagination is great and he can come up with stories that have so much detail. My son, Nicholas, is my athlete, Juliana the artistic girl & Dylan is my scientist/engineer. He loves building and deconstructing things to understand how they work. Loves swimming and the outdoors and enjoys his Cub Scouts. Most of all he loves to play when he has the energy now. (His IPad is an escape when he really ill).
Dylan has been undergoing intense treatment since August. He lost his hair (some of it has grown back but will likely lose again this month/Jan as he started his next 8 week treatment of intense chemo & steroids last Tuesday. 1st week of January we are expecting the hardest part of it as it will be 4 days straight of treatment with some overnights mixed in at Hackensack University Medical Center. His vomiting has been daily over the past week and a half and his energy level is not as robust. November was a good month as the treatments were lower based on his schedule so he was able to attend a class at school but he is relegated to home schooling every day. We are doing our best to keep him involved with his classmates and have offered to FaceTime during special events if cannot attend due to poor blood count levels.
Wish: to go to Hershey in August 2016 with family and eat chocolate donuts
Wish granted: August 2016
Jake was born December 29, 2012 10 weeks early with his twin brother Aiden at just 2lbs 10oz. He spent his first 3 months of his life living in the Jersey Shore NICU. Most of this time he was on different type of breathing machines, heart and lung monitors. He came home on those monitors for another 3 months after being discharged. When Jake was about 8 months old we began noticing larger differences in milestones between the two boys. We knew the boys would not meet milestones in the same time frames that their older brother had or even in the same time frame as each other, but these differences were significant.
We began our journey in to early intervention trying to help Jake catch up. At this time he wasn’t rolling over yet, sitting up or really using his left side of his body at all. A few months in one of the therapists recommended seeing a neurologist. We went to CHOP and met with a neurologist who at the time felt he may have had a stroke. He had an MRI done revealing no stroke, but instead PVL infant brain damage that can be brought on by any or all of the things he was exposed to in the NICU experience. At that time CHOP told us there was nothing they could do at his age they would monitor him and diagnose further as he got older. That was not acceptable to our family.
From CHOP we headed to Children’s Specialized Hospital they specialize in children with brain damages and Autism. Our first visit with Dr. J after an hour she and another doctor diagnosed Jake with Spastic Diplegia Cerebral Palsy. Our lives changed from that day forward. We began 9 therapy sessions a week 3 physical therapy, 3 speech and 2 occupational therapy, and 1 aqua therapy. Over the 18 months that followed we began to see large improvements. Then Jake had a growth spurt and we hit our first big insight to what we are in for moving forward. Every time Jake has a significant growth spurt he needs to relearn how to balance and use parts of his body all over again. Mainly his legs.
We then began a new leg of our journey at Hospital for Special Surgery with world renowned Dr. Leon Root. He was an amazing man. He helped us through what would be Jake’s first round of botox therapy in his calves. We began to see improvement and again he was moving forward. Sadly before Jake’s next round of therapy and botox Dr. Root passed away. This sent us in to a tail spin to find a new Dr. to replace Dr. Root. We went back to CHOP with no luck.
Two weeks ago we visited the Nemours Dupont Children’s Hospital in Delaware. We’re in love with the doctors, staff and programs they have there. Jake had a new round of botox in all new areas and we once again feel like we’re moving in the right direction.
When Jake was first diagnosed he had no use of his left side at all, we were told he may never be able to sit up on his own and was completely non verbal. Today after all his hard work he has use of his left arm/hand, he’s sitting up with some assistance, and he’s very talkative. He’s walking with the help of AFO leg braces and a posterior walker. He can ride a tricycle with a little help too!
We still have a very long road ahead with several more rounds of injections and surgeries but we are very hopefully for a positive future for him continuing to move forward and potentially being able to walk with minimal assistance in the next few years.
Wish: 4 days of Disney Hopper passes to visit Magic Kingdom, Epcot & Animal Kingdom and Waterpark Passes
Wish Granted: September 2016
Our son, Joseph, age 14, just completed four years of chemotherapy for Acute-Lymphoblastic Leukemia ("ALL"). Joseph is treated at Goryeb Children's Hospital in Morristown. Joseph is in remission 2.8 years and needs to get to the five year mark to be declared cancer free. During chemotherapy, Joseph had a lot of hurdles to overcome such as extensive nerve damage in both feet, liver issues and stomach issues. He's incurred so many side effects and most recently had an issue with his skin turning dark/light from the chemotherapy. Joseph is on treatment with the dermatologist and his skin is improving. During all of this, he has remained positive and is thankful for each day. Joseph is entering 9th grade in the Fall and was in honors classes in Middle School. He loves Math and Science, and will be playing an instrument with the Band. Although he is still limited with playing sports (he was playing football when he was diagnosed), he learned to try new sports, and he has found a love for Lacrosse. Although his school does not offer Lacrosse, he plays with his Dad and sister.
Wish: STX Backyard Lacrosse Goal with Net & Shopping for Lacrosse Things
Wish Granted: October 2016
Avery, my daughter was diagnosed with cancer on August 8, 2013. She was three years of age. Avery enjoyed going to the library, Gymboree, crafts, playing with friends etc.
On August 8, 2013, Avery was taken to her pediatrician because for the prior month she was not feeling well. I finally asked the doctor to do some blood work on her. He sent us for an ultrasound. Then they asked us to return to his office, and he informed us that Avery had cancer, and to take her to the hospital right away.
The doctors told us they believe it was Wilms tumor. So we were told that she would be losing a kidney and that hopefully they can remove all of the cancer. Several hours after admission as a patient, examined by several other positions, subjected to numerous tests, forced to ingest medication, everyone finally agreed her cancer was indeed Wilms tumor, and surgery was scheduled.
Avery was prepped for surgery, and an hour and a half later into a five hour procedure the surgeon came out of the operating room to inform us that after opening Avery up, they realize that Avery did not have Wilms tumor. Avery had stage 4 neuroblastoma. They closed her up, and immediately started chemotherapy. At this time the only inserted a double lumen Broviac into her chest.
Over the next five months Avery endured many hospital stays, fever, sour belly, shots, allergic reactions, blood draws, blood and platelets transfusions, brovic dressing changes, daily cleanings /flushes of her port, medications and five rounds of chemotherapy.
Avery is an amazing little fighter. A rundown of her treatment thus far has been:
Hey double lumen Broviac inserted into her chest. Five rounds of chemotherapy. Losing her hair three times. After the second round of chemotherapy, Avery got something called aphersis this is where they harvested her own stem cells, to get back after they were cleaned later in her course of treatment. They were amazed when they retrieved 65 million stem cells from our little superstar. Their goal was 10 million. Luckily extra vials will be stored for, her until she reaches 18 years of age. A 7 1/2 hour surgery, resection of the tumor. In addition they discovered and did Corrective surgery of malrotation of the bowels. Removal of her appendix. Removal of 90 to 95% of the cancer, the remainder was attached to all of her organs. At this point the risk to remove any more outweighed the benefit, as Avery started bleeding so they closed her up.
Here is when her treatment took a turn for the worse. One of the hospitals we were at, gave us a diagnosis that Avery was an NED which means no evidence of disease. This meant my daughter was in full remission. We were so happy it was the first time I was able to breathe a sigh of relief. And I thought after five rounds of chemotherapy we had a true miracle.
Unfortunately that only lasted three days. This is when my world started crumbling once again. My oncologist called me with such sorrow in her voice I knew something was not right. We got our second results from a different hospital back. A secondary hospital the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, known as chop, called us to inform us that Avery was not an NED. She had full body cancer in her skull, entire spine, shoulder blades, upper arms, full pelvis, thighs, and in her bone marrow. Thank God for second opinions. I recommend everyone get one.
At the first hospital, the radiologist reading her scans, said, "he only looked at the first one, and it was clear and he never looked at any of her other ones." A hard lesson learned, I went to the hospital and forced them change policy, so this would never happen again to another child. Now all oncologists must read their patients scans after a radiologist read the scans.
After this, Avery received two rounds and MIBG therapy. This is full body IV radiation for 7 days. The hardest part was being kept behind lead walls, where she could not be touched or held by me. My heart hurt, every time she asked for me to please hold me, mommy can you come to me. All I could do was say I can touch you for a brief second and from over the little wall. My little tiny couldn't understand why mommy or pop-pop had to wear gloves and a gown to be in a room with her. She was scared. As a result of these therapies her thyroid is completely useless. She will be on medication for the rest of her life for that. When she got home as well was not allowed to eat on regular plates everything had to be disposable all her stuff had to be washed twice and not mixed with anybody else's she couldn't sit next to org on anyone's laps and still felt the comfort of being home but not the love of contact for two more weeks.
We hope them prayed that she would be cancer free after this therapy, we were disappointed, yet hopeful that she would become cancer free soon. Next, she received a stem cell rescue at CHOP. Some call it a transplant, the doctors call the rescue, because it's rescuing her life. She would receive five days of high-powered, three different types of chemotherapy at the same time,to wipe her whole entire immunity out of her body. This is where Avery received her own stem cells back that they harvested earlier on. This also means now that her unity will be fresh and brand-new like a baby she needs to receive all her immunizations shots all over again, after 100 days from transplant. A stem cell rescue usually your in the hospital for a total of three weeks to a month. As a result of this procedure my daughter develop a complication called venoocclusive disease (VOD). This is what occurs when small veins in the liver become obstructed causing blood clots. This was life-threatening. She ended up in ICU, and had to get a drain inserted into her stomach to help alleviate some of the fluid. It was touch and go for about a week. She was hooked up to oxygen and 4 different IV's. They could not get the drain to stop the abundance of fluid leaking out. She had to get about 6 -7 painful dressing changes daily. Avery had to endure a lengthy two months stay at chop, and managed to fight her way back. During this stay she was not allowed to have hardly any visitors. We were able to at least get out for an hour or two a day in the private playroom still with no other kids. We washed everything that touched her every single day, including all her stuffed animals and blankets, clothing etc. hers and mine. Thank God, I was able to get multiples of Ariel, Lilo,and stitch. We watched a lot of Disney movies. After these two months we were able to both say,most of the movies verbatim.
Following the stem cell rescue, Avery received 20 rounds of proton radiation treatments at chop. The hard part about this is that she needed to be sedated daily, for multiple weeks in a row.
She then completed 6 rounds of immunotherapy. Immunotherapy has been and is very painful. My daughters hospital stays are two times each month for about five days apiece.
During these treatments Avery suffered with intense pain, allergic reactions, 105 fevers, abnormal body and organ functions. As a result she needed to be put on high blood pressure medications due to the complications of her kidneys now. The medications she had to take at home are horrendous in every sense of the word. Avery experiences burning in her mouth, lips that crack and bleed. Her nails peel and her skin on hands face and feet cracked. The medication makes her photosensitive, drastic mood swings, and causes pain in other areas of her body. However, without this therapy it would decrease Avery's chance of survival.
This super brave child has been subjected to multiple CAT scans, double bone marrow biopsy's,and MIBG scans every three months for a long time. Thank god Now she is considered NED no evidence of disease. She continues to have to go for routine scans every four months.
The long-term side effects thus far from her cancer treatments are: organ damage, infertility, stunted growth, spinal wedging, breakdown of her teeth (chemotherapy eats right through the enamel leaving your teeth gray and black), permanent hearing loss. As I mentioned before her teeth wound up with an eminence amount of work. She had 7 root canals, 8 stainless steel caps, 4 white caps, 12 cavities and 1 removal. She has tiny tattoos all over her body, that a permanent from where they had to do the laser proton radiation therapy.
Avery must now we are hearing aids in both ears that she gripes wearing every day. She has permanent kidney damage. One shrunk to 30% and the other one is 85%. They believe that to smaller one will continue to shrink and will result in removal in the future.
One of the hardest parts of this entire therapy is when she tells me,"mommy one day when I have a baby in my belly and I have a baby, I'm going to love her and be a good mommy like you. That breaks my heart.
Despite all she has gone through, Avery is an amazing loving and giving child. If she saw, or heard another child upset or crying, she would say, "mommy can we please give them one of my toys or stickers to make them happier." The funny thing is she gave all her brand-new toys that she just got a way to make them happier. She was no one on the floors as the sticker and toy girl because she always give out stickers to everybody every day and toys.
My daughter, Avery is a gift from God, to us, and everyone she meets. She always brings a smile to the face of anyone who meets her. She has taught me so much. How to persevere, live in the moment, and love on a deeper level. Fortunately through an unfortunate circumstance, this experience with my daughter has renewed my faith in humanity. There are so many selfless people out there in this world, that love to just give, and not ask anything in return.
Wish: A new backyard playground
Wish Granted: October 2016
On January 11th 2016, at the age of 9, Jaiden was diagnosed with T-Lymphoblastic Lymphoma a type of cancer of the blood and bone marrow that affects white blood cells. In December 2015 before the Christmas holiday, Jaiden had been having night sweats, fevers and headaches off and on for weeks. One night I woke up from him breathing heavily as if he was gasping for air. After taking him to Virtua Hospital in Voorhees they discovered he had a 10cm mediastinal mass laying on his lungs that was also touching his heart. They immediately transported us to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) where the diagnosis was made. He remained hospitalized for 2 weeks to begin aggressive chemotherapy treatment that thankfully put him in remission. However, he needed to continue chemotherapy as an outpatient 1-2 times a week for 6-8 months (he's still receiving), that will be followed by once a month maintenance treatment for 2 years all to ensure that it doesn't come back.
For a while Jaiden was limited on physical activity because of the mass and because of a blood clot that formed in his right leg several weeks after diagnosis. The blood clot caused his right leg to swell up double the size of his left. It extended from his lower abdomen down to his right foot. But thankfully after additional treatment, the clot was gone and the mass had gone down half it's size. So after some time, he was able to participate in his favorite activities like basketball, roller-blade, bike ride, kickball, roll around on his neon street rollers (his absolute favorite) and hang out with his friends while playing on his Xbox-one.
Jaiden turned 10 in September and like a lot of children battling life threatening diseases, has endured much more than any child should have to. Pediatric cancer strikes 1 in 285 children and as a parent with those odds you never think it could happen to your child. So needless to say, Jaiden's diagnosis was life changing for both of us. There are times when I have to remind him and myself that it could always be worse and we have witnessed it. But with the grace of God he's handling all the physical ailments and changes as well as the mental and emotional roller coasters. We've had frequent hospital stays in between but through it all he keeps smiling. He does have days when he's down but the good days certainly outweigh the bad and because of our faith his life is slowly but surely getting back to normal.
His favorite color is blue, he loves watching football and basketball. And he loves watching wrestling with my Dad, "his poppy" as he affectionately calls him. His favorite football team is the New England Patriots, basketball is the Golden State Warriors and favorite wrestler is Stone Cold Steve Austin.
WISH: To go to WWE Smackdown Nov 1st Prudential Center, NJ
WISH GRANTED: 10/2016 Jaiden and 3 others will enjoy a Stretch Limousine service with VIP Suite passes to WWE Smackdown Nov 1st
Michael was your average middle school kid until October 16, 2014 when his life changed forever. That day started out with a trip to the pediatrician to see about some unexplained bruising on Michael. We went to his doctor at 9:00 for an appointment. He sent us to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick for blood work. By early afternoon, Michael was given the devastating diagnosis of cancer (acute lymphoblastic leukemia). We met his oncologist that day and he was admitted to the hospital and had surgery that afternoon to insert a port into his chest and also a bone marrow biopsy and spinal tap with chemo. That first admission lasted a little over a week. Over the next 6-8 months Michael endured a strong chemo regimen that caused him to lose most of his hair. It included numerous in-patient stays at the hospital, both planned for treatment and unplanned for fevers, infections, etc. Michael was able to return to school in April 2015 and finish the school year with his friends.
Michael is still in treatment for his leukemia and will stay on treatment until February 2018. He is currently in the maintenance phase of treatment which involves daily oral chemo, monthly IV chemo at the Cancer Institute of NJ, and spinal taps with chemo every 3 months. His immune system is still compromised from the chemotherapy so illness is still a concern for him.
Michael is now a freshman at Spotswood High School. He is a member of the high school pep band, playing the clarinet. He is also in a few school clubs. Since this has happened Michael has decided he wants to be a pediatric oncologist.
Wish: A new HP Laptop
Wish granted: 12/27/2016
My name is Martha Rodriguez I am a Social Worker at Linden High School. I have been working closely with a student and his family by the name of Paul Coates.
Paul was born on 09/28/2001. He is currently 15 years old and in 10th grade at our school. On 04/16/2013 he was diagnosed with Craniopharyngioma a rare form of brain tumor. On 04/16/2013 he had surgery to remove the tumor and place a ventricular shunt. One year after surgery he started having headaches again. So he went in for a routine MRI and found out the tumor had came back. On 09/07/2016 he had another surgery to remove the tumor this time it was 10 hours. In spite of it all, Paul is going through. Academically he's still manages to keep his grades up. Paul has the most beautiful smile and an amazing spirit and personality. His mother refers to him as her "HERO."
I plan to work with Paul as well as another young man who is struggling with a life threatening illness. We would like to have an opportunity for Paul and the young man to communicate and socialize. However Paul has no means of doing so as he has no phone or tablet. He also is not able to return to school as of yet. The other student will at times also be unable to meet with Paul due to his medical treatment. The plan is to use technology as a median to allow the students to FaceTime. In doing so they will be able to discuss their struggles and develop a friendship that will help them with their daily challenges.
I am truly moved by this young mans courage and his desires to lead a normal life. He has an amazing smile that is truly contagious. The family is currently struggling financially I am making every effort to assist them. However, they are not complaining about it, and just feel fortunate to have Paul alive. I reached out to Mrs. Patterson to obtain assistance with this case. She was so caring and immediately started she would reach out to others for any kind of possible resource.
I am thrilled to hear that you can help. Please reach out to me with any questions as well as steps moving forward to help this child.
Again I am so grateful,
Martha Rodriguez,
Social Worker
Linden High School
Wish: Apple Ipad
Wish Granted: 12/2016
This award is for someone who Daniela thinks is hero for something they have done that is courageous and special.
Thank you so much for considering Jenna for hero for a month. She would be honored to accept . She has such a heart of gold as does Daniela. The Daniela's wish charity is an absolutely wonderful charity that I have heard about before. What an accomplished young lady she is!!! Sheila you should be very proud of yourself for raising such a brilliant girl. We truly are lucky moms to have such amazing daughters in our lives.
Jenna received a $100.00 Toys r Us gift card from Daniela’s Wish
Babe Ruth