Serene Martens is a active, funny, and wonderful six year old girl. In 2005 just before her fourth Birthday
Serene began to have trouble walking and seeing straight. The reason for this we learned was because Serene had an extremely aggressive tumor growing in her brain stem. We also learned that this type of brain tumor is among one of the most feared in pediatric medicine because of its poor prognosis, in fact some doctors told us that most children with this form of tumor lived on average for six to twelve months after diagnosis. Upon learning of the brain tumor Serene and our family traveled out to Boston Massachusetts so that she could receive treatment. Upon arrival Serene was started on an eight week radiation cycle and enrolled in a study for a new cancer med called Iressa. After the radiation the tumor had shrunk quite substantially and Serene had regained most of her motor function. However while the tumor had stopped growing we were told that it would most likely come back within the first year.
The first year passed and the tumor was still stable. Serene’s mother and I began to have hope that maybe we had gotten lucky and that Serene had beaten the tumor. After two years we were almost certain of it. However almost three years since the tumor had stopped growing, it is now growing again. The good news is that we had our little girl for three wonderful years. However the bad news is that to have her for longer we need to once again seek treatment for her tumor. While some of the cost of her treatment is taken care of there are many things that Serene and the rest of us need. We need to eat, to put gas in our car, to pay for medicine, and many other expenses. Because of this I am reaching out to the readers of the tech brief. I realize that many of you do not know Serene, and that most of you probably donate to charities on a regular basis. I have no real reason to ask you for the donations, but please, if you can even afford just a dollar or two, know it would help a wonderful little girl and her family out.
You can view more information about Serene at Care Pages, her site name is SereneBean. You will have to register but if you could leave her a message of hope she would greatly appreciate it.
If you wish to make a donation. Please contact me via email at oosh@infowest.com or click on the donate button below.
