Two-year-old Anastasia Rafter from Niagara Falls, NY, was diagnosed with an aggressive tumor in her optic chiasm on December 20th, 2016 at 8 months old. The tumor caused her to go completely blind. She failed all standard chemotherapy and underwent surgery in October 2017 where 50% of her tumor was removed but the surgery destroyed her pituitary gland.

On July 21st, I sat in the Emergency Room at Yale and had a doctor tell me my son had a large mass at the base of his brain. As a parent, nothing can prepare you for this news. My sweet Teddy underwent a ten hour surgery on July 23rd to remove a large amount of the tumor.

This summer, Raymond A. Wood Foundation provided Henry Cloninger, a 6-year-old from Godfrey, IL, a blood analyzer to help his family manage his medical care at home.

Silas Johnson, age 8, lives with his mom Chelsea, dad Casey and 1.5 year-old brother Ackley in Cody, Wyoming. Silas was diagnosed with a craniopharyngioma brain tumor in January of 2017 and, as a result, suffers from diabetes insipidus (DI) a condition where, due to injury, the pituitary gland does not excrete the anti-diuretic hormone (ADH0, thus making blood sodium levels difficult to manage.

Meet Molly Brenner, 19, from Kansas, who will be receiving a handheld blood analyzer to help manage her diabetes insipidus making her our third recipient. Molly was diagnosed with a craniopharyngioma brain tumor in 2012 on her at age 14 on her fourth day of high school. Her tumor was removed via a craniotomy at Childrens Mercy Hospital in Kansas City. Molly suffers from diabetes insipidus (DI), hypothalamic obesity (HO), adrenal insufficiency (AI) and is visually impaired. Recently, she was diagnosed with pulmonary vasculitis. Unfortunately, the parts of the brain impacted by this tumor treatment control the overall health of the rest of the body which can leave patients like Molly susceptible to other diseases.

Sterling, VA — Countryside Elementary School fifth grader Michael “Mikey” O’Connell was selected by the Raymond A. Wood Foundation (RAWF) to receive a handheld blood analyzer, a hospital-grade device that is critical to managing a chronic condition called diabetes insipidus (DI). O’Connell suffers from this condition as a result of removal of a craniopharyngioma, which is a benign brain tumor that affects the hypothalamus and pituitary gland.