The Christensen Family's Story

Cole was just 15 months old when he was diagnosed with Anaplastic Ependymoma. Until after his 1st birthday, you never would have known anything was wrong. He was so happy all the time. Then in June of 2010, he became inconsolable. We brought him to his doctor’s office eight times along with two Emergency Room visits trying to figure out what was wrong. Finally, in July of 2010, we saw a doctor that recognized his symptoms and ordered a CT scan of his brain and we found out that our little boy had brain cancer.

His first brain surgery took 9 hours at Children’s Hospital in Omaha. He was put in a medically induced coma for him to heal and we were inpatient at Children’s for a month. When he woke up, he could not talk or eat on his own and he had a tracheotomy, so his airway was protected. He went through 35 radiation treatments with anesthesia and then a long stint at Madonna in the Alexis Verzal Pediatric Hospital for inpatient therapy. Cole had physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech/eating therapy, and nursing care. We were discharged in November and continued outpatient therapy while at home.

Cole handled all this not knowing any differently. He thought this was normal life. He loved to play ball with his cousins and uncles and spend time with his family. He loved to watch SpongeBob and The Freshbeat Band and he loved to laugh and make others laugh.

A year later, the tumor was back. Because of the location of the tumor, we were referred to Le Bonheur and St Jude in Memphis TN. Cole proceeded to have two more brain surgeries, 35 more radiation treatments, chemotherapy treatments and hours of physical therapy at St Jude, in Omaha and Madonna. And the tumor came back again.

In July of 2012, we were told there were no other treatment options for Cole. We took Cole home and spent as much time together with family and friends as possible. We were able to take a Make A Wish trip to Disney World and made wonderful memories together as a family.

We were blessed that Cole was at an age where he really had no idea what was going on. About 2 months before he passed away, I was rocking him and he looked at me and said, “Mom? I’m so happy!”. He was a light in the world, and we are forever blessed to have been able to call him our son. He was 3 ½ years old when he passed away on December 18, 2012.

While Cole was nearing the end of his battle with cancer, Jack Hoffman was just starting his. We were welcomed into the Team Jack family by Andy and Bri as the organization was starting out. We have made wonderful friends and received amazing support from this group, and we are in awe of all it has accomplished so far. Please consider donating in memory of children like Cole and many others or in honor of all the kids battling right now. No family should have to lose their child to cancer.

Written by Chris and Amy Christensen, Parents of Cole