Speaking of the fight, the research and collaboration between scientists and oncologists that are working to find a cure for ATRTs, Emily’s tumor type, have been making progress. When Emily was first diagnosed in the spring of 2008 there were barely any treatments for her disease and the cure rate was less than 10%. The only successful treatments we found came from Boston Children’s Hospital and under the leadership of Dr. Mark Kieran and Dr. Susan Chi who were doing a series of clinical trials for ATRT. That’s why we went to Boston and we believe that decision gave us another year with Emily. We also believe that Emily’s journey in Boston, the lessons learned by the scientists and oncologists, coupled with the critical mass of talent and resources at Boston Children’s Hospital will hopefully lead to a cure for this terrible disease.

Today, scientists and oncologists like Mark and Susan, have made tremendous progress against ATRT and even though the outcome for younger children like Emily remains very low, they have improved. In fact, the cure rates are now close to 50%. We won’t stop until it's 100%.

Take care and we will see everyone soon!