Help Nate Fight Childhood Cancer

Nate was born on May 2, 2025. In late June, he began vomiting and became unusually sleepy, changes that set off alarms for us that something was wrong.

We brought him to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) emergency room, where imaging showed hydrocephalus caused by a rare choroid plexus tumor. Within hours, the neurosurgery team had a plan to relieve pressure and stabilize him.

Over the next week, he underwent three surgeries, including an EVD placement and biopsy.

Because of Nate's young age, tiny body weight, and the vascular nature of the tumor, the neurosurgery team determined that complete resection was not safe at that time. Instead, he underwent another surgery to place a shunt that controlled the hydrocephalus, and we were able to bring him home and give him time to grow.

Fast forward 6 months, Nate was bigger and stronger and ready for surgery to remove the tumor completely. On January 2, 2026, his neurosurgeon completed a gross total resection.

Recovery brought its own challenges, including placing another shunt that will likely be there for life, but Nate did amazing. He is now nearly 10 months old, at home, crawling and pulling himself up, and is the happiest kid in the room.

We will never be able to truly convey the gratitude we have for CHOP's neurosurgery and neuro-oncology teams, as well as all of the doctors, nurses, and staff that took care of him and us on this journey. We also will never be able to thank our family and friends enough who were there for us during the hardest of times.

Sharing Nate's story is our way of honoring the care that saved him, helping other families spot concerning signs sooner, and raising money to fund research so that treatments exist for the next child who needs them.