Help Nightwing Cure Neuroblastoma
by Steve Brody
Who is Nightwing and how is he going to cure cancer…great question. Nightwing, it turns out, is many things. He is Dick Greyson by name, he is Robin to Batman, and on his own, he is Nightwing. Nightwing helps people, and it turns out that Nightwing is my son’s favorite superhero. My wife describes this far better in her blog.
Our son Jacob Brody, our Nightwing, was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic hi-risk neuroblastoma in June and has begun his at least one year of treatment. And he’s doing great. His strength and courage are an inspiration to us all. He is likely doing the best of all of us.
Here he is as Nightwing helping all those around him who suffer.
It is one thing to learn that you have cancer, which happened to me last October. So many have lost so much to this disease, I lost a lung but in return got my life back. I am one of the lucky ones. Learning that my son had cancer was the worst day of my life. We all cope differently and I tend to cope more by trying to fix a problem, than getting overwhelmed by it. So I spent my time reading every research report, speaking with every scientist in the field, understanding the cellular structure of his cancer and how the standard of care has evolved over the years, and what future therapies are in trial that may one day eradicate this horrific disease.
Through all of this research, there was one constant, the Band of Parents. The Band of Parents was either directly mentioned by the leading researchers while explaining new treatments or cited as a funding source for the current standard of care when those drugs were in clinical trial. They describe themselves on their website as:
“a member-based grassroots organization with the goal of funding innovative clinical trials and new therapies for neuroblastoma, a rare and deadly cancer that mostly strikes children. The mission is to fast track a cure through less toxic and targeted therapies. To date, the Band of Parents has committed over $8 million to pediatric cancer research. Learn more at www.bandofparents.org”
It turns out that they have targeted and funded the most important research in the field of neuroblastoma and as a result, have given our son a far greater chance at recovery than he would have had without them.
So the Friends of Nightwing, as those who support our son Jacob have begun to call themselves, have joined forces with the Band of Parents. And my wife Abby and I have a new mission; we will do everything in our power to help make neuroblastoma a chronic condition in 5 years or less and fully cured in 10 years or less. Full Stop.
And once that has happened, we will shift our focus to the next childhood cancer and the next and the next and so forth until no child needs to spend their childhood suffering in a hospital bed.
Abby and I commit to you that we will not rest, we will not tire, we will not stop until the last child has suffered at the hands of cancer.
So how can you help…
Donate to fund cutting edge research. We have set up a special page for the friends of Nightwing (aka Jacob) to send donations directly to the Band of Parents here at www.friendsofnightwing.com If you prefer to send via wire transfer, please reach out to me directly. Band of parents is a 501(c)3 public charity and all donations are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law.
Share this medium post with your various social networks. The more minds we can get on the problem, the more resources we can direct to this and other childhood cancers the quicker we can find the cure. You can easily share this post to your facebook or twitter accounts by using the icons at the end of this post.
Feel free to reach out to me directly. If you or anyone that you know are one of the unfortunate parents who have been chosen by this terrible disease, please reach out to me anytime; day or night. It would be my honor to share with you my learnings to date and to help you navigate this horrific process.
If I have learned anything from the amazing people that have helped us get to this point in Jacob’s care it is that you pay them back by paying it forward.
Help us pay it forward.
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