Mike and I spent the afternoon at Gooberfest. Now you might ask,"What is Gooberfest?" Well it is a fundraiser to help my brave little friend and her family pay her medical bills. You see, my friend, Nikki is a fifteen year old with a contagious smile and zest for life. However she is burdened by the affects of a rare type of brain tumor called Pleomorphic Xanthoastrocytoma (PXA)that is on her brain stem and goes thru her midbrain into her thalamus. She is undergoing a very aggressive chemotherapy treatment to help shrink the tumor and stabilize it. Due to the tumor she has physical repercussions, such as 98% hearing loss and severe muscle weakness on the left side of her body, which continue to threaten her sense of normalcy. She also sees a physical and occupational therapist twice a week to help maintain some use of the left side of her body and will need reconstructive surgery on both ears.
In spite of all she has to endure, she has the MOST BEAUTIFUL SMILE I have ever seen. I have known Nikki since she was tiny. We lived in the same neighborhood. Mike and I would walk every evening and Nikki would watch for us and come running out of her house to give us hugs. Our son Zach babysat for Nikki and her brother,Christian, when he was in High School.
To find out more about Nikki and how you can pray for her, you can check out her site at
There is also a link on the Gooberfest page to make a donation to help this family if you feel so inclined. I know that they will be blessed to know you care.
2 comments:
Thank you for sharing! Bless her, she is soo sweet! I have a friend whose five year old daughter has the same condition. May God be with them both!
She is a doll! Wish we would have know about this yesterday.
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