Kids v Cancer was founded in memory of Nancy’s and Michael’s son, Jacob Froman.
Jacob was a spectacular, funny, bright, sweet and earnest eight year old boy. He loved all sports, performing rock music (he played keyboard and sang) and his little brother Ben. He would have loved his new sister, Sarah.
Jacob was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a rare form of brain cancer, when he was eight. At various stages, Jacob suffered serious impairments, including an inability to speak, eat and walk. He was in-patient for a total of nine months over two years. Still, he was determined to return to school, spend time with his brother, family and friends and live as close to a normal life as possible. He never complained and had an unfailingly positive attitude.
During the course of his treatment, he underwent several surgeries, six weeks of daily radiation and multiple rounds of chemotherapy – standard, metronomic, high-dose, experimental and finally palliative. Unfortunately, none of these efforts eliminated the disease. Each round took its toll on his body, ultimately shutting down his systems and making it impossible for him to receive further treatment. The disease spread throughout his brain and spine, and he died on January 16, 2009, at the age of 10.
Throughout Jacob’s treatment, Nancy and Michael contacted pediatric brain cancer researchers and clinicians at more than 35 different hospitals across more than a dozen countries. They worked with dedicated scientists and physicians who were hampered by a lack of new drugs with which to treat children, a lack of tissue samples with which to study pediatric cancers (and ultimately design new drugs), and a lack of access to funding which would enable them to carry on their research.
Jacob’s story can be found at www.caringbridge.org/visit/jacobfroman.
