The Journey of June Dallas
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Tavia Jean
Breeze-Courier Writer
A bright star named June Dallas was born on August 20, 2019.
Before her first Birthday, June was diagnosed with neuroblastoma.
You might ask yourself, what is neuroblastoma?
Neuroblastoma is a form of childhood cancer that starts in juvenile nerve cells. The term “neuro” refers to the nerves, and “blastoma” indicates a tumor of immature or developing cells. Neuroblastoma tumors can arise anywhere in the body, but most appear in the abdomen. Neuroblastoma tumors are unique. Some may go away without treatment, while others may spread throughout the body. The average age for a patient to be diagnosed is around one to two years old, and neuroblastoma makes up about six percent of childhood cancer cases.
Junes mother, Ali, said in a Facebook post on September 7.
“June has spent most of her life in the hospital and grew up there. One in 285 kids has to grow up in a hospital due to childhood cancer, yet childhood cancer only receives four percent of national cancer funding. Please keep talking about childhood cancer after September and awareness month are over. Our kids deserve more than a yellow heart and ribbon.”
Ali says she noticed something was wrong when June was ten to eleven months old, and June was diagnosed by thirteen months of age on September 20, 2020. Since then, June’s family has been by her side. In and out of hospitals with June to help with cancer treatment.
“We completed three more rounds of chemo, placed a broviac central line, harvested stem cells for a possible stem cell transplant, and saw some tumor shrinkage on her scans. We decided to try chemo, plus immunotherapy, and we saw minimal improvement after those two rounds. At that point in treatment, we were unsure what to try next. In December 2021, we decided to get a second opinion from some of the best neuroblastoma specialists at the children’s hospital of Philadelphia. Our first visit turned into a two-week stay where we had many scans, biopsies, and tests to see exactly what was happening. We decided to do two more rounds of chemo, then we went back to Philadelphia for more scans, and we decided to have June’s second tumor resection surgery. June’s second resection happened in March 2022, and they were able to respect 75% of her complicated tumor, and we were ecstatic! We did one more round of clean-up chemo and moved on to the tandem stem cell transplant (May and July 2022). Stem cell transplants can cause extreme side effects, and we were hesitant about moving forward. June flew through both of them in just three weeks and amazed us. Her scans at the beginning of August showed that the stem cells cleared all metastatic disease and kept her tumor stable. It wasn’t exactly what we hoped for, but it was progressing.” explained Ali in a Facebook post.
On November 14, 2022. It was discovered that June’s tumor is progressing during immunotherapy treatments, so the family is reaching out to the MSK in New York and CHOP in Philadelphia, which are neuroblastoma specialists. The family is raising money to help cover the expenses for the treatment and the time needed off work to be with June as she faces this challenging time.
Looking at June’s pictures, there is no doubt that she is a spunky little warrior, but even the bravest of warriors, like June, need a side sick.
You can become one of Junes side kicks and help her by donating to one of the donation networks provided below.
ls/2RN2EX8501INJ?ref_=wl_fv_le);
There is also the option of donating online at Go Fund Me. You can type in the link provided to your web browser or search for “Junes Journey by Tiffany Perkins” on the Go Fund Me web page.
https://gofund.me/dc027f69
Venmo: @ali-peden-1
These donations are so important. The hope is for June to live an everyday life someday. At this critical time, June should spend as much time as possible with her parents. All of us as a community can help make that happen for June right now. A cure for June is a cure for future children like June.
Junes family says, “June is the brightest light. She’s always smiling and is the sassiest little thing.”
She likes; crying babies; playing outside; playing with her dog dolly; her two ducks; watching her iPad. If you want to bring Joy to June’s face, consider getting her something from her amazon wish list for the holiday season.
To donate directly to the bank, go into any UCB branch and contribute to the “June’s Journey checking account;
This link will take you to a list of things that make June happy (https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2RN2EX8501INJ?ref_=wl_fv_le);
There is also the option of donating online at Go Fund Me. You can type in the link provided to your web browser or search for “Junes Journey by Tiffany Perkins” on the Go Fund Me web page.
https://gofund.me/dc027f69
Venmo: @ali-peden-1