June 30, 2012

Dr. Pollack and Dr. Jakacki,

I hope this email finds you both well.  Mike, Nathan, and I are all
home and settling in to our normal life.  We had his first physical
therapy session today and we were all amazed by how much progress he
has made in a very little amount of time.  He is starting to sit up
again by himself, was bearing weight on his legs, turning his head in
both directions, and even had a little tummy time today. He still
doesn't like to sleep very long at night, but I think that is because
he is looking for mom and dad and making sure no one with a white coat
comes anywhere near his crib.

While we were in the hospital we mentioned to both of you that Mike
and I would like give back to both of you in some way.  There is no
way we can possibly say thank you for giving our son a chance to live.
 Within a few days of receiving the worst possible news a parent could
imagine, the two of you gave us hope that our little guy was going to
make it and be ok.  The only thing we can do to say thank you is to
give back in some way.  We know the two of you are leaders in your
field.  If anyone is going to help Nathan on his road to recovery it
is the two of you.  We believe in research, and we believe in your
abilities to make great strides in the area of pediatric brain tumors
if given the resources.

During our time in the hospital, I sent out updates to our friends and
family on Nathan's progress.  There were approximately 80 people on my
email list, but yet there were thousands who received the updates and
were praying for Nathan.  We believe there is power in numbers and we
want to use that strength to help you and your research.  I have
attached a PDF file of the letter Mike wrote and we have sent to our
family and friends.  We thought you may want to know the background
behind our thoughts.  When you have some time (which we know you are
ALWAYS working) please take a moment to read the letter.  We are
grateful that Nathan's care is in your hands.

Thank you again!

Beth, Mike, and Nathan