We have started the Wesson Littau Foundation, INC. to help raise
funds and awareness for pediatric infantile luekemia research and
other childhood cancers. Our goal is to make difference in how
pediatric cancer is funded, researched, and therefore treated and to
support children and their families who are dealing with a cancer diagnosis.
Our foundation was born November, 2012 after our thirteen month
old son Wesson Littau lost his nine month battle with a high risk form
of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. He was treated at Sanford Children's
Hospital in Sioux Falls, SD for two months when his cancer was
declared unresponsive to standard means of treatment. We were then
referred to St. Jude Children's Hospital in Memphis, TN where Wesson
underwent two expirmental rounds of chemotherapy treatment, a Natural
Killer Cell transplant from his father's stem cells, and two high risk
haploidental stem cell transplants from his father, and then myself.
Wesson's terminally agressive cancer was declared to be cured in
August of 2012, shortly after his first birthday. However, the
combination of several months of toxic chemotherapy -- in addition to
two high risk transplants back to back had landed him in the ICU of
St. Jude Children's hospital fighting for his life. Wesson passed away
on September 26th, 2012 from mutli-organ failure.
He was cancer free, but the treatment was too much.
It is now our life's mission to make a difference in how
pediatric cancer like Wesson's is treated. No parents should have to
watch their child suffer to the toxic side effects of radiation,
chemotherapy, and transplants.
We have currently raised over $80,000 in our first year. Close to $7,000 of this is raised through online donations. We have fulfilled one grant request so far from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital for the RELHEM protocol that is a phase 1 clinical trial for difficult to treat and high risk leukemia similar to Wesson's.
We feel that our first year has been a success but we have a lot
of work left to do.
We won't stop until there is a cure.
