A Limitless Tomorrow
Photos by Sarah Morreim
Children’s Cancer Research Fund’s 36th annual Dawn of a Dream gala welcomed some 800 guests at the Depot Minneapolis on November 5th. Supporters raised nearly $1.2 million for the organization’s research efforts in prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and cure of childhood cancers.
NANCY SCHLINK: Our 18-year-old son is a three-time cancer survivor, and he went through a bone marrow transplant. We’ve been fighting this for two years, but our fi ght isn’t over. We’re going through chemotherapy still, but hopefully in the near future, it’s going to be over.
SEAN PYPER: I’m a pediatric oncology fellow at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital. My best friend had lymphoma when he was in the eighth grade, but he recovered and is doing great. Seeing that experience through his eyes made me interested in the importance of having well-trained and caring people who can work with kids and families in that situation.
PATRICK BASILE: I was a general pediatrician for five years and had a few patients I had to send o to the oncology team. It tore me up that I couldn’t be with them, so now I am a pediatric oncology fellow at the Masonic Children’s Hospital.
SANDY FORSETH: The research has changed so much in my 12 years of being a child-life specialist. It has also changed the course of treatment for the child. For example, a pediatric patient who comes in with cancer of the eye, instead of giving chemotherapy to the child’s entire body, now they just give it to the back of the eye. It makes such a huge difference.
