Braxton "Brax" Battaglia

First, we hope everyone reading this is doing well and staying healthy! Hopefully we can get back to normal very soon. We look forward to seeing everyone in person again – it’s been too long! Quick update on Brax below….

Both Brax and Bry were asked to model again this year for the Masonic Children’s Hospital Fashion Fest. The entire family had an absolute blast at this event in 2019, but due to Covid this year it was held virtually. The girls were asked to come in a few weeks before the actual event on December 4^th to model for UNRL. This year UNRL featured their clothing lines that help to benefit Masonic Children’s Hospital, so the girls were able to wear gear from the TB1F merchandise. They had so much fun at the recording and were also featured in the same segment with Rocket the Therapy Dog and his handler Anna from Masonic. The girls both love dogs and Rocket is as sweet as they come. They were honored to represent UNRL, TB1F, and Masonic all in one night to benefit patient and family programming at the hospital.

In other news, the regional chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society reached out to Brax and asked if she would create some artwork for their 2020 Supporter and Donor Thank You’s.  She decided to create a butterfly (symbol of childhood cancer) with orange (leukemia) and green (lymphoma) colors to represent blood cancer. Brax likes to draw so this was a fun little project for her.

The Flippin’ 5K in November was a huge success. Due to Covid we were already reducing our in-person registration and just days before the official, Gov. Walz announced closures that forced us to go 100% virtual. Nonetheless, everyone stepped up and things turned out great! We want to thank everyone who participated and helped to raise over $11,000 this year! We had people participate from all over the Twin Cities and as far as Boston to Phoenix. We look forward to holding this event again next year in person. Thanks for the continued support of Brax’s mission to help other patients and families at Masonic Children’s Hospital.

Brax turned 11 on November 25^th and we can’t help but wonder where the time has gone. Even with everything we have faced dealing with cancer and Covid time continues to go by quickly. She likes to remind us she is a “tween” now and is excited to be a teenager in less than 2 years…hahaha! Her birthday was low key of course and she did not feel great since she had treatment the day before. She had a lumbar puncture with chemo at that appointment and the nurses in sedation surprised her with a balloon and sign to wish her happy birthday. Brax received several gifts and well wishes from close friends and family and it made her day. Next year we are hoping to have cancer and Covid behind us and throw her a big birthday celebration since she has not been able to have a party the last two years.

We hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. Ours was of course quiet, but we are a football and food family so we were happy to relax, eat, and watch football all day. We are not sure what Christmas will look like this year for our family, but if we can all stay healthy we will consider it a success. We often think of all the poor kids who have to spend the holidays at the hospital. This year will be extra difficult, so Brax wanted to do something extra special. TB1F partnered with Integrity Global Solutions (Dan’s company) and BMW of Minnetonka to help deliver some extra joy this ‘weird’ holiday season. We donated 25 Nintendo Switch Lites and 25 Amazon Fire Kid’s Tablets in December to help brighten the days of kids in the hospital during the holidays. Brax knows firsthand after 97 days in the hospital that having something to do and being distracted really helps to pass the time. Both of these items are handheld and can be used while in your hospital bed if needed.

We want to  wish everyone a safe and healthy holiday season!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year – 2021 – we can’t wait!

Please make sure to check out www.TB1Fund.org and see what Brax’s Foundation is up too! We are constantly looking at ways to help kids and families at Masonic and with everyone’s help and support we are making an impact! Thank You!

It is hard to believe that Halloween has already and past and we are on to Thanksgiving season! School and gym are going well for Brax and we are thankful that we all continue to stay safe and healthy. Grandpa Dave celebrated a milestone 70th birthday this fall and Brax wanted to make him a special cake. Grandpa Dave loves golf and also loves that Brax and Bry enjoy golfing so she decided it was a no-brainer to go with a golf cake.

We were surprised with a fall snowstorm in October – classic 2020 I guess. Our family would prefer the snow not arrive until right before Christmas, but the girls still took advantage of it and had fun playing after they wrapped school and practice for the day.

Our family had a great Halloween considering Brax was on steroids and of course Covid restrictions. Last year she felt miserable and was starting to develop severe mouth sores, so this year, even though she didn’t feel very good from the steroids and the annual neighborhood party was canceled, we still had fun. The Overton’s hosted a small Halloween party for our family and Grandpa Dave & Grandma Judy. Brax was in charge of desserts and Brylee was in charge of the party games and costume contest. All of the food was delicious and we had a fun & warm Halloween.

Finally, Twin City Twisters will be hosting the 2nd Annual Flippin’ 5K for TB1Fund on Saturday, November 21st. Due to Covid and having TeamBrax members spread across the state and country there will also be a virtual option this year. A huge thank you to TCT and Kim/Lisa in advance for planning and hosting the event. The money raised will of course go further Brax’s mission of brightening days for patients and families at Masonic Children’s Hospital.

Please visit/call Twin City Twisters or visit www.tb1fund.org for more information and/or register. All registered participants will receive the 2020 5K shirt below by our friends at UNRL and a participation medal. Thanks for your continued support of Brax and her mission.

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It’s hard to believe that Brax is already in 5^th Grade. Brax was diagnosed halfway through 3^rd grade and due to her intense treatment protocol was unable to return to school for the remainder of the school year. She was set to return to school for the 3^rd trimester of her 4^th grade year but due to Covid, school did not resume in-person classes that year. Brax was really looking forward to starting school this year in-person – new school/fresh start – but we opted for Extended Flexible Learning for both girls to start the year. With all the unknowns we figured this would be the safest and best option for our family. School is off to a good start for both girls and we are fortunate that they both have great teachers.

Brax had an unexpected visit to Masonic this month and we are happy to report it was not a fever or even cancer related. Long story short she hit her mouth on the strap bar at the gym while warming up giants. Total freak accident but a more normal thing in the sport of gymnastics. Luckily her platelets have been consistently good or else it could have been a very scary situation. We called the on-call fellow to see what we should do and sent her a few photos. By the time she called us back Brax was already back out on the floor practicing. She said if she wanted she could finish her workout but they did want her to come in to the ER (because it was a Sunday morning) to be evaluated after practice. She ended up getting just one stitch and some antibiotic cream. It was pretty swollen but she was happy to just have a “normal” kid injury and to not have a cancer issue at the hospital.

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#ChalkforMasonic

In honor of September being Childhood Cancer Awareness Month Caribou Coffee decided to donate money to Masonic for cancer research for every chalk message posted on Instagram. Brax decided she wanted to participate in the challenge and decided to create a butterfly (childhood cancer symbol) with a gold ribbon as its body (gold ribbon signifies childhood cancer awareness) Her chalk art was actually picked to be featured on the post to announce Caribou Coffee’s $5K donation to the hospital.  

A few weeks ago we received a call from Rashod Bateman’s agent. Bate was a star wide receiver for the  Gopher football program for the past 2 years. Since the Big Ten cancelled their football season he decided to forgo his junior season and sign with an agent to prepare for the NFL draft. Rashod wanted  to meet Brax and to gift her with a game worn helmet of his from last season. He told her that he was inspired by the speech she gave the team before the Outback Bowl and wanted to give her the helmet. Brax was honored to receive this special gift and be able to get to know him better. We wish him the best of luck this spring in the NFL draft but rumor has it that now that Big Ten football is back he wants to try to play football for the Gophers  for one more season. We are so excited to watch such a kind and  talented young man play football soon whether it be in college or the NFL.

*****CONFIRMED***** BATE IS BACK!!! GO GOPHERS, SKI-U-MAH!

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And finally, to wrap up, we want to personally thank everyone who has followed and supported Brax these last 20+ months. We officially wrapped up year #1 of Brax’s foundation, TB1Fund, and had an amazing first year. We raised over $110K (HUGE!), which is used specifically to brighten the days of patients and families at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital. It was so important for Brax to stay mentally strong during treatment and that is half the battle for kids and families. It’s easy to get down and discouraged, if not by the diagnosis and treatment alone, the daily grind of being in the hospital and away from home, family, friends and activities. Being able to provide toys, gift cards, hospitality days and spontaneous surprises to patients and their families and keep their mind off treatment, mentally strong and positively encouraged is worth more than anyone knows. With your support we were able to make that happen and look forward to continuing our mission.

Please check out our year end Newsletter (click here) and, if you are able to help in any capacity (donations, sponsorship, volunteering, etc), it is greatly appreciated and truly making an impact. We have a very specific project we are working on with the hospital and hopeful we can make it a reality and will share more info as it advances.

To help today, please visit www.TB1Fund.org

Thank You to all of our 2019-20 sponsors & partners who stepped up BIG TIME to help get this off the ground! And Thank You to all of sponsors & partners who continue to support us and who have have joined forces with TB1Fund for our Year#2 Kickoff!

• Integrity Global Solutions
• Brian Lindstrom – Lake Area Mortgage
• Split Rock Trading
• Park Valley Young Insurance
• Matrix NDI
• Lake Country Power
• Twin City Twisters
• BMW of Minnetonka
• Hanson Builders
• North Pine Aggregate
• Premier Banks
• All American Roofing & Restoration
• Chris’s Food Center
• Goodin Company
• Urban Adventure
• Row the Boat
• UNRL
• Dunkin’
• Athletes for MN Kids
• Interlog USA
• 3MOpen
• Alta Technologies

It is hard to believe that we are already a few days into September. Even with Covid/Cancer the summer still flew by like normal. We have talked about putting in a sport court for several years and decided that this was the year to pull the trigger. The girls have enjoyed getting out on the court pretty much daily. Two of their favorites are shooting hoops and playing pickle ball. Both Brax & Bry have expressed interest in wanting to get into golf. We have tried to get them out at least once a week over the last month or so and they both really like it. The girls continue to get to the gym to practice gymnastics.

The July Toy Drive was a great success! Toys are being distributed at the hospital and at Brax’s last appointment several of the staff at Masonic commented on how they are helping to brighten the day for many patients. This would not have been possible without the help from all of you and the collaboration with BMW of Minnetonka and we can’t that you all enough for the continued support. In addition, TB1Fund partnered with BMW for their “Drive On” event in which BMW of Minnetonka donated $1000.00 to the fund!

TB1F also received a special donation from some of Brax’s neighborhood friends. Evelyn and Andie did a friendship bracelet fundraiser and split the money between saving the Red Pandas and TB1F. It just shows how people of any age can make a difference. They inspire us with their hard work, big hearts, creativity and generosity. Thanks girls!

TB1F is going GOLD this month for Childhood Cancer Awareness. In addition to the new merchandise already on the website we have added a special shirt to help promote Childhood Cancer Awareness during the month of September. They say childhood cancer is rare and that is why there is such a lack of funding – we disagree since we have so many friends that are at different stages of their childhood cancer journey. Please join us in Going Gold this month!

Also, now thru September 7th, TB1Fund is giving away 7 FREE shirts, chosen by random drawing. To be eligible, please check out the details via any of Brax’s social media sites.

Instagram:  @teambrax1

Twitter: @TeamBrax1

Facebook: @TB1Fund

Shirts are also avail for purchase during the month of September only.  Grab one today and help spread awareness and show your support for all kids battling childhood cancer!

www.TB1Fund.org/merch

****PROMO CODE: TB130 for 30% off any TB1Fund gear (use during checkout)

Things continue to go well overall for Brax and she is halfway through her final phase of treatment Maintenance (18 months) She has 8 rounds left to go and we continue to move closer to the finish line of this marathon. We wish everyone a healthy and smooth start to the school year even though things will look very different for most people.

Finally, we are approaching our 1 year anniversary of launching TB1Fund at the end of this month. Be on the look out for some Year 1 updates and our annual appeal to raise some money! We will have new donor swag this year to entice you 🙂

Year 1 was incredible thanks to you all and we are looking to build on it this coming year and continue helping others through their cancer journey.

First, we hope everyone is doing well and staying healthy! We haven’t posted much in the last couple of months and will get everyone caught up!

Today marks the 300 day countdown until end of treatment for Brax. 554 days down, 300 to go….we are heading the right direction. Brylee wanted to do something special and threw together a great little 300 Day Party today for Brax and it was SPECIAL! Bry has a huge heart and whether or not Brax will admit it, Bry has been a huge part of Brax’s recovery (physical, mental, and emotional). Quite the duo!

Brax is feeling really good and things are continuing to move in the right direction. In general, Maintenance has gone pretty smoothly and besides the 1 week a month she has treatment, she feels really good the remaining 3 weeks. We will take it!

We head back this Tuesday for another round of treatment and blood work.

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Besides the normal kid stuff, Brax has been busy during her “good” 3 weeks. She has spent a lot of time with her new cousin Max, trying to see him at least a couple times per week. She love babies (and is very good with them).

We also celebrated Bry’s 1st Communion in June. Due to COVID and all the limitations, we were finally able to get this in.

Brax has been busy with gymnastics and is back to the gym 3 times per week with her coach Kim. We are still taking precautions, so as much as she’d like to be back with the Team, she and Bry are practicing together due to her being more compromised.

She has also been able to get out the “farm” to ride some horses, which she has really enjoyed doing. She has had the chance to ride a couple different horses these last 2 months. Below are pictures of Buck (left) and Doc (right)!

4th of July this year was probably our best in the last couple years…..hard to believe a Covid 4th could be better than anything, but with Brax finally feeling well and being able to spend time with family for some extended time was awesome! Last summer we were right in the middle of intense treatment and the summer before we were dealing with arthritis (or what was diagnosed as arthritis, but possibly early onset leukemia).

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A few weeks ago, the girls were able to have their end of season formal gymnastics banquet too. The program was great and it was nice to see a lot of the kids and families we have not seen in months. Thanks again to Jen for putting that together and the great photos of the girls. Brax’s photo from the event below….turned out great!

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Brax has met many new friends in the cancer circle and a couple weeks ago we were able to catch one of Jake’s baseball games. He’s doing awesome and will be done with treatment a couple months before Brax. It makes the heart happy to see these kids outside the hospital and doing well……being “kids”.

And last week Brax was able to take in a few events at the 3M Open. It was a much different experience this year, but it was still a blast to get out and see some golf. Matthew Wolff (last year’s Champ) even took some time on Hole 13 to come over and chat with Brax and gave her a signed ball. Thanks Ryan!

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In other news, thank you to everyone who contributed to Brax’s July Toy Drive with BMW in support of the Masonic Children’s Hospital. We had a great response and will post pictures this coming week. Thanks to BMW as well for partnering with us and for being the toy drop location. We hope to make this a yearly event, due to the success we had this year and for the need it fills at Masonic.

Also, TB1Fund (Brax’s nonprofit) has done incredibly well this year thanks to everyone’s support and we hope that continues. In partnership with UNRL, Brax has released some new items on the store and more will be coming later this summer/fall. Please check it out at www.TB1Fund.org/Merch Use the discount/promo code TB130 for 30% off any of your TB1F gear.

Finally, we wish everyone a happy and healthy end of the summer and back to school (however that may look for each of you). We continue to ask for your prayers over these last 300 days and please also include Brax’s other good buddies going thru treatment as well, especially Bella, Megan and Jake.

Because of the current and ongoing restrictions in place to safeguard patient’s health during the COVID-19 pandemic, areas such as Kyle Rudolph’s Endzone, the Zucker Family Suite & Broadcast Studio, and many other areas generally used for recreation have all been closed. In addition, many items generally made available for patient/family use are now in short supply as they are not being re-used. TB1Fund in partnership with BMW of Minnetonka are holding a Toy/Book/Game Drive for the month of July.

Child Life Specialists who are working to meet the mental, emotional, and developmental needs of the patients and families, say funding for additional toys, games, books, and comfort items is critical at this time. For example, two-player board games and educational books are important as families are struggling with isolation while practicing social-distancing in the hospital setting.
Due to restrictions and limitations on visitors and deliveries to Masonic Children’s Hospital, BMW of Minnetonka has stepped up and offered to be a physical drop off and storage point for the month of July. On Friday, July 31st we will make one BIG delivery to the hospital.

You can help in one of three ways by visiting https://tb1fund.org/july-toy-drive 1) Drop a new toy/book/game/gift card off at BMW of Minnetonka during the month of July. 2) Shop online and have a new toy/book/game/gift card shipped directly to BMW. 3) Make a donation to TB1Fund that can be used to procure items of need – click HERE to donate.

Brax has created “Wish Lists” on both Amazon & Target to make things extremely easy for anyone who has no idea what is currently a “hot” commodity in the hospital. Use this as a guide and feel free to do your own thing too – get creative and have fun with it!

AMAZON WISH LIST (CLICK HERE)

TARGET WISH LIST (CLICK HERE)

Thank you to everyone who is able to help at this time and please know that something as small as a new toy/book/game is making a BIG difference in brightening the day of kid and/or family confined to a hospital room all day, everyday during this unusually challenging time.

Please have a happy & safe 4th of July!

We hope everyone is staying both healthy and safe during these challenging times.

It’s been a busy and exciting month since we last posted. Many good things happening in spite of all the ugly.

Friday, May 8th, Brax’s good friend Casey wrapped his last round of chemo after beating cancer a 6TH TIME! We drove down to Masonic to wish him luck before he went in. Due to all the distancing measures, nobody is allowed to accompany adult patients in the hospital any longer so we met quickly outside before he went in.

May 22nd, the Pioneer Press posted a nice article regarding Casey beating cancer for a 6th time and also his relationship with Brax and her good friend Megan going through cancer as well.

If you haven’t seen it, check it out at the link below.

Gophers’ cancer community includes six-time survivor Casey O’Brien and two ‘sisters’

On May 11th, we welcomed new cousin Max to the family. Brax & Bry are thrilled to have a new little cousin. Any chance they have to get their hands on him they jump at it. Congrats to Em & Bryton!

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May 12th Brax was back at Masonic for her monthly treatment, which consisted of IV Chemo and Pentamidine. Everything went well and all of her numbers looked really good. She’s feeling the best she has felt and getting back to pre-cancer strength. Below are some pics of her working out a bit. Check out that hair too!!!!

And to wrap up the month, Brax graduated from 4th grade and will be moving to the Intermediate School next year! New school, New start…she’s excited, as are we, for her to get back to being a “normal” kid!

In terms of treatment, we are now officially down to 1 year left!!! May 28th, 2021 will be her final day! Here is a list of what we have left:

• 12 Months of Treatment Remaining (14 Completed)
• 4 Lumbar Punctures with Triple IT Chemo Treatments
• 12 Vincristine IV Chemo Treatments
• 60 Days of Steroids
• 362 Days of Chemo Pills

Her next scheduled treatment is June 9th and that will be a bigger one, with an LP Triple IT Chemo and then upstairs for more IV Chemo.

In wrapping up, our big event planned for this spring and postponed until July, the TB1F Champions Cup, we have officially rescheduled for Spring 2021. Our main focus is the health of our guests and we want to make sure we are keeping everyone safe and at this time with so much uncertainty we, as a group, feel this is the best decision. Everyone who has purchased tickets will be rolled over to next year’s event and we will send a separate announcement out this coming week to all ticket holders with more info. With the extra time we may be able to open up some more tickets and make this event bigger and better than we initially planned. Thanks again to all of the sponsors, partners and guests in supporting Brax’s mission of brightening the days of kids going thru childhood cancer and we are excited to see you all next spring.

TB1F Champions Cup Info/Tickets

Thanks again for everyone’s continue support after 14 months of this roller coaster of a journey.

And please continue to pray, not only for Brax, but also for her good friends she has met along the way who are all at varying points of treatment – Bella, Casey, Megan and Jake!

Stay Healthy!

First we are hoping that everyone and their families are healthy and finding ways to navigate these trying and difficult times. COVID-19 is affecting EVERYONE in some way, shape, or form, be it physical health, mental health, financial health, you name it. We are wishing you all the best and hoping we can get back to somewhat more normal days very soon.

Things here have been pretty uneventful, which is good, and everyone is healthy. Brax is feeling the best she has felt since pre-diagnosis and its AWESOME. 450+ days since we started this journey and things are finally starting to normalize a bit as a family unit. If COVID-19 weren’t a reality, we’d be in great shape. We still have over a year of treatment to go, but based on how things are currently going, we are optimistic that things will continue to go smoothly and we can continue to focus on non-cancer things.

Brax had another treatment last week, April 14th and everything went very well. The hospital is now a completely different place with all the rules and restrictions in place. It’s certainly not as welcoming as we know it. We say how thankful we are to not be going through diagnosis and initial treatment this year, as that was scary enough as it was, and now for all of these newly diagnosed families to have to add COVID into the mix is just not right. Current restrictions only allow (1) parent to be with the child now too, which is hard. The other parent is not even allowed to visit in an attempt to keep everyone healthy, which is understandable, but no less difficult.

Besides treatment, Brax has been keeping busy with school, practice, and things a 10-year old should be doing. Easter was great, the weather is getting nicer, the girls are getting along (for the most part) and we are still married (touch and go some days), so we can’t complain. We are blessed!

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In closing, our big event planned for this spring, the TB1F Champions Cup, we have officially postponed until July 17th. Our main focus is the health of our guests and we want to make sure we are keeping everyone safe and following CDC guidelines. We are hopeful this date will hold, but we know there are no guarantees and we will review this new date once we hit June. Tickets are still on sale and we have had a great response to the event. There are currently only (2) general tickets and 5 horses left. It’s shaping up to be an exciting evening and a very “feel good” event. We have had a lot of people step up to make this event very special. Thanks to all of them! You know who you are! Sponsors and partners listed below. Thank you!

For more info or to purchase tickets, please check out the link below.

TB1F Champions Cup Info/Tickets

Thanks again for everyone’s continue support after 450+ days. Our group of family and friends is unmatched!

And we continue to ask for prayers, not only for Brax, but also for her good friends she has met along the way who are all at varying points of treatment – Bella, Casey, Megan and Jake!

Stay Safe, Stay Home, Stay Healthy!

A lot has happened since we last posted, with the biggest event being the Coronavirus and the challenges associated with it. First, and most importantly, we want to extend a huge THANK YOU to all of our incredible doctors, nurses, and staff across the country for everything you do. Second, we want to extend our heartfelt sympathy to all the families affected by this pandemic, both from a health and financial perspective.

In terms of where we are with things, we will catch you up from where we left off.

If you don’t follow Brax on social media, based on our last posting everything was looking good, we were in the ER for a fever, but counts were good and we went home. The next day however, Sunday, February 23rd the fever came back and we were admitted. That week was shaping up to be BIG & FUN, so it was a bummer. She had her 2nd Dunkin’ Donut Ever Give Up day planned for Tuesday. We still held the event, but instead of hosting, Brax was in-patient. On Wednesday, she was invited to the Gopher Men’s basketball game to help introduce the U’s new therapy dog, Rocket, which she was super excited for…another bummer. And the the icing on the cake, quite literally…..she was supposed to spend Thursday afternoon with last season’s Kid’s Baking Champion Winner, Paige getting some lessons. One thing we have learned through this whole cancer journey is that it’s very hard to make plans more than one day in advance.

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Brax was in the hospital for over a week and of all of our stays, besides initial diagnosis over a year ago, Brax just didn’t have any energy and was very fatigued, which is unlike her. Being at an “easier” point in therapy, or so we thought, things were not adding up. We met with her docs and nurse practitioner and all of her counts looked good, low but good, so their thoughts were it was partly due to the dose of her maintenance chemo in addition to delayed effects of radiation. We were discharged on March 3rd and things slowly started to improve. We got some more answers at our next follow-up, which started to explain why Brax was feeling so crappy. They ran a test while she was inpatient to see how she was metabolizing the current dose of chemo and it turns out the initial dosing was simply too much. After talking with Lexi, they start everyone around the same level and as you progress through maintenance some kids end up at 150% of initial dosing, while others end up at 25%. It has no impact on effectiveness of treatment, but they want to keep ‘your’ specific numbers at certain levels. Moving forward, Brax will have her dosing reduced and we will move up from there, with the hope of avoiding any more setbacks during maintenance. Again, nothing is guaranteed, but we all agreed this was the best plan of action moving forward.

Not too long after being home, Brax bounced back and was back to her “old” normal. She had her spunk and attitude back! Nothing better than seeing your kid feeling good. The things we so often take for granted are so appreciated these days.

This past Tuesday, Brax was back for treatment. It had been 3 months since her last LP….nice break. Everything went well with her LP and after recovery she headed up to the Journey Clinic for more IV chemo and pentamidine. She had been taking bactrim pills, which she preferred, but because they tend to lower your counts they asked her to switch to pentamidine (shown below). She’s not a fan, but better than the alternative.

And a small bright spot amidst all the ugly in the world right now, Dave Puente, a local photographer who we have gotten to know throughout this process and who is also donating his skills at our upcoming event, wanted to come out to family’s homes and photograph them during this pandemic. It was a quick 5 minute shoot that captured a brief moment during a very challenging time. This small (or what was intended to be small) project has now blown up and Dave has opened this up on his social media for other families to get involved. Check it out if located in the metro – instagram @davepuente Thanks Dave!

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And just this past Friday, we (TB1Fund), received a call from the U of M Foundation, asking if Brax would be willing to help support Child Family Life and critical funding needed during this time at the hospital. She said “YES!”

Because of the current restrictions in place to safeguard patient’s health during this current COVID-19 pandemic, areas such as Kyle Rudolph’s Endzone, the Zucker Family Suite & Broadcast Studio, and many other areas generally used for recreation have all been closed. In addition, many items generally made avail for patient/family use are now in short supply as they are not being re-used. This appeal for funding is very intentional and very directed. Funding will make an immediate impact! See the statement below from Child Family Life.

Child Life Specialists who are working to meet the mental, emotional, and developmental needs of our patients and families, say funding for additional toys, games, books, and comfort items is critical at this time. For example, two-player board games and educational books are important as our families are struggling with isolation while practicing social-distancing in the hospital setting.

We understand these are challenging times for EVERY family in one way or another, but if you are able to help support the immediate needs, please kindly consider it. We are looking for 1,000 people to donate $5/ea. Share this with family and friends and lets make a difference for the kids stuck at the hospital.

You can make a 100% Tax Deductible donation at www.TB1Fund.org Thanks to everyone who has donated already and anyone that is considering it. Help brighten a day!

Finally, in regards to our big event planned for this spring, the TB1F Champions Cup, we are officially postponing this event until later in the year. Our main focus is our guests health and we want to make sure we are keeping everyone safe and following CDC guidelines. We are working on coordinating dates with everyone involved and are currently looking at July/August. Tickets are on sale and we have had a great response to the event. There are currently only (2) general tickets left and 5 horses left. It’s shaping up to be an exciting evening and a very “feel good” event. We have had a lot of people step up to make this event very special. Thanks to all of them! You know who you are!

For more info or to purchase tickets, please check out the link below.

TB1F Champions Cup Info/Tickets

Thanks again to everyone for supporting Brax in this cancer journey. And we continue to ask for prayers, not only for Brax, but also for her good friends she has met along the way who are all at varying points of treatment – Bella, Casey, Megan and Jake!

Stay Safe, Stay Healthy!

It’s been a busy few weeks since our last post. As I type this we are currently in the Emergency Department @ Masonic as Brax has been a little off following treatment last week. She feels OK but has been tired and running a little higher temp than normal (99’s), but today it jumped to 100.6 and they said we should come in for an evaluation. Everything is checking out good. They did a urine sample and that was good, flu swab and that was good and bloodwork which is all coming back good too. So we are assuming she’s fighting a little bug or some of the residual effects of the meds she’s currently on. Either way, they are sending her home and no overnight stay with her ANC being ok.

Now for the latest happenings…..

Tuesday, the 6th, Brax’s good buddy Megan lined up a private viewing of Frozen 2 with the Gopher Football Team and PJ & Heather. We all joined and had a blast. Thanks for the invite Megan!

Then on the following Monday, Brax joined the Women’s Gymnastics Team at practice and hung out. Thanks for the invite Coach Hansen! Always a good time hanging out with the girls!

Then this past week Brax attended her first Wild game with very special friend Michael. They had great seats on the glass and then Michael hooked her up with post game locker room passes. She met Dumba, scored Dubnyk’s stick, a game puck, and the Wild won big in a shutout…great night all around! Thanks MJ!

This week is another busy week with some exciting events/activities coming. Check back at the end of week for all the updates!

Also, TB1F Champions Cup is off to a great start. There are only a few tickets and 10 horses left. It’s shaping up to be an exciting evening and a very “feel good” event. We have had a lot of people step up to make this event very special. Thanks to all of them!

For more info or to purchase tickets, please check out the link below.

TB1F Champions Cup Info/Tickets