Gavin: If You Believe It, You Can Do It
09.13.17
Eleven-year-old Gavin Pierson of Ramsey, MN, has been fighting “Joe Bully” since he was 5. That’s what he has named his rare brain tumor, a growing mature teratoma, because of the way it breaks ...
Rare Conditions
A collection of resources on the topic of "Rare Conditions". View all Topics
Kat: Random Acts of Kindness Make It a Good Day
09.13.17
The words of Kat Schilling of Eau Claire, WI, pierce the heart: “As much as I don’t like the fact that I lost a child, it is exactly that … a fact. I cannot change it, no matter how hard I w...
Lovette: Positive Attitude Helps You Live Longer
09.13.17
Dressing to the nines, with embellished bags for her portable oxygen tank, and gorgeous gloves to protect fingers damaged by disease, has helped heal Lovette Russell of Atlanta, GA, as she lives with ...
Happiness: A Memoir: The Crooked Little Road to Semi-Ever After
08.14.17
In Heather Harpham’s memoir “Happiness,” she takes readers on a captivating journey of love, partnership, parenthood, and the unimaginable choices she is forced to make while navigating ...
Strong and Brave: One Child’s Fight with Cancer
08.17.16
As I was about to watch my five-year-old undergo chemotherapy, I had a vivid dream that calmed the fear of the unknown. In my dream, Gavin’s neurosurgeon stoically walked out of surgery, telling us ...
Choose Hope Over Fear
03.24.15
Living with a life-threatening disease is not what you might think. It is worse, in some ways – but surprisingly better in others. I always imagined being very old before experiencing this myself. N...
You Deliver Hope and Healing
03.16.15
You may not know me, but I have felt your kindness and generosity during my family’s darkest time. My name is Nicole Pierson and I’m a mother of three, a wife, a teacher and a CaringBridge...
A Christmas Letter of Hope
12.22.14
As the mom of a child who has been fighting a brain tumor for two and a half years, the holidays haven’t always been easy for Nicole Pierson, her husband and her three young children. Below she has ...
Back to School after Surviving Cancer: One Boy’s Story
08.14.14
Summer is soon over and the anticipation of the upcoming school year is here. It’s time for children to say goodbye to bonfires and swimming and hello to schedules, desks and books. It is a time for...
A Devoted Father with Guillain-Barré Walks His Daughter down the Aisle
03.31.14
After a business dinner in Virginia, 59-year-old Bob C. felt ill enough to call 911. Good thing he did: just hours later, he was unconscious and on life support. Doctors struggled for weeks to tease o...