Chris, Thank you for your article on Miss Nancy! She is a “godsend” as one of the moms put it. I called my son to the kitchen table today – he is a 2 year warrior of Stage IV neuroblastoma which takes 70% of the kids diagnosed. When Alex saw the picture, he immediately said…. “Mom, isn’t that Miss Nancy… I love Miss Nancy!” We have not been Inpatient at Children’s for quite some time as Alex’s disease has required us to seek treatment at different medical centers throughout the country. Just after Alex’s bone marrow transplant and radiation treatment at the University of Michigan where he was confined to a room with a Geiger counter above his head for 4 days, he arrived home to a package from Miss Nancy – a personalized glue gun and craft. His eyes lit up…. Maybe being treated in a faraway place is not so different from home!

Here is a picture of Alex with his sisters this past Christmas. He has a full head of hair and is a 1st grader at Christ the King School in Dallas. He continues to fight his neuroblastoma – my husband and I have been quite active in lobbying Washington and Austin for awareness and pediatric cancer research funding, as well as, taking active role in a number of pediatric cancer organizations. We truly believe God needed more foot soldiers to be a voice for pediatric cancer, just as Miss Nancy is a foot soldier for improving the quality of life and providing hope to the kids battling for their lives every day!

Mom to Alex (age 7 stage IV neuroblastoma… www.caringbridge.com/visit/alexanderpodeszwa), Charlotte and Sophie