Stories of Hope and Healing
Each one of our patients, family members, and staff have stories to tell. Here are just a few of their stories from over the last 50 years.
Patients Family Members Caregivers
Each one of our patients, family members, and staff have stories to tell. Here are just a few of their stories from over the last 50 years.
Patients Family Members Caregivers
The Valerie Fund
2101 Millburn Avenue
Maplewood, NJ 07040
973-761-0422 :: Phone
973-761-6792 :: Fax
©2025 The Valerie Fund. All Rights Reserved. | We are a 501(c)(3) charity
Current Age: 32
Diagnosis: Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma Stage 3
During my diagnosis and treatment at Newark Beth, I always felt comfortable and seen. From the doctors and nurses to the social worker, they made me feel like I mattered and included me. I am very grateful for the support and care I received
I am also blessed to be a part of Camp Happy Times, where I formed many friendships. Getting to know other cancer patients gave me a second family. From camper to LIT to counselor, CHT will always have a special place in my heart.
Current Age: 28
Diagnosis: AMPL Leukemia
Being diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia just days before my fifteenth birthday was undeniably life-altering. One moment, I was spending my summer as a teenager enjoying beach life at the Jersey Shore—soaking up sunshine and newfound independence. The next, I was told the random bruises on my body were caused by leukemia, and I became a cancer patient overnight, suddenly faced with blood and platelet transfusions, spinal taps, bone marrow biopsies, chemotherapy, and hair loss.
From those very first days and through the many years that followed, I always felt supported, seen, and understood by everyone at The Valerie Fund Center in Morristown. After an initial month-long hospital stay, I began outpatient chemotherapy five days a week, where I quickly bonded with the nursing staff. Their warmth, humor, and compassion brought lightness to long, often difficult treatment days. It meant so much to be treated not just as a patient but as a normal teenager. They joked with me, encouraged me, and truly cared about me and my entire family. Even on the hardest days for me and other patients, the clinic felt alive with joy, connection, and hope.
I completed treatment on January 29, 2014, after three challenging years of chemo, arsenic trioxide, countless pills, and regular bone marrow biopsies. I remained in long-term follow-up care for a decade, always looking forward to my check-ins and catching up with my care team. Last summer, I officially “graduated” from these visits. There are simply too many survivors to continue long-term follow-ups after ten years—which feels like the best kind of “problem” to have.
Though my time as a patient has ended, my relationship with The Valerie Fund family is lifelong. When I published my book, Courageous Well-Being for Nurses, in 2023, several Valerie Fund staff members—including Maureen Baker ANP, Shannon Holland APN, Tricia Patterson RN, Gina Fleming RN, and Cathy Cerruti LCSW—joined me to celebrate at a book launch event. It was a full-circle moment and a chance to honor the nurses who helped me heal by offering something back to their profession.
I truly credit my survival to an incredible team of caregivers: Dr. Neier, Dr. Halpern, Dr. Fritz, and Dr. Gregory, along with Maureen Baker ANP, Shannon Holland APN, Anne Marie O’Keefe APN, Tricia Patterson RN, Gina Fleming RN, Cathy Cerruti LCSW, and the many other nurses, child life specialists, and support staff who walked beside me through it all.
As The Valerie Fund celebrates 50 years of providing compassionate, comprehensive care, I feel immense gratitude for the role they’ve played in my life and the lives of so many others. Their work is nothing short of life-changing.
Current Age: 39
Diagnosis: Wilm’s Tumor at 18 months
There are times when I see family photos from that period and the severity of the situation really hits me. My parents look ghostly in those photographs. The emotional and physical drain is beyond what I can comprehend, even to this day. Becoming a father only intensified these feelings, as it is impossible to understand what it is like caring for your sick child. I am forever grateful to my parents, the doctors and nurses, and The Valerie Fund Children’s Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders for everything they did for me and so many others.
I am now 37 years removed from treatment and am an entirely different person from the toddler who had to sit very still, holding his clown while his father spoke to him through a window during long sessions of radiation. And yet typing these words still brings tears to my eyes. I was too young to understand what was happening; that was a burden everyone else had to bear. Their efforts are the reason I am here today.
Now I have my own family with my beautiful wife and three young boys. This brings a whole new perspective to The Valerie Fund and only strengthens my gratitude for everything they do. I am intimately aware of the true impact of The Valerie Fund. It helps families through the toughest times people can imagine. And it gives people like myself the opportunity to experience all that life has to offer. To me, The Valerie Fund is the greatest organization in the world. They created a lifelong bond in which my entire family still remains involved.
Current age: 28
Diagnosis - Medulloblastoma
The wonderful memories I carry from my time at The Valerie Fund Children’s Center at St. Barnabas focus on the magnificent staff. From the nurses to the doctors, the child life specialists, my social worker, the clowns, and even the security team, they made my time at the center a blast. I always looked forward to every visit, even when I knew I had to get blood drawn. I remember the craft box they had, the toy basket, and all the fun videos and games you could play. It was like a child wonderland. I never felt sad when I had to visit because I knew something exciting would always happen.
Current age: 53
Diagnosis: Osteogenic sarcoma
Age diagnosed: 16
Having been diagnosed at age 16 with osteogenic sarcoma in my left leg, The Valerie Fund Children’s Center became a place not only for treatment, but also for healing and support. Even afterwards, when the treatment regimen was completed, the staff at The Valerie Fund Center continued to be a source of care and encouragement. The Valerie Fund will always be family to me.
To address the osteogenic sarcoma in my bone, major surgery was done above the knee, where part of my femur was replaced with a donor bone. I then had a year and a half of chemotherapy treatment, followed by ligament surgery on my leg. I then required an additional year of chemotherapy treatment, due to having a relapse of the cancer in my lung. Although the surgeries and treatment were physically and emotionally depleting, I remained very motivated to get back to a normal life. I was committed to attending high school and keeping up with my work. In many ways, my life had become more enriched because of what I learned from that experience. I am incredibly grateful for my life and my survival.
Surviving osteogenic sarcoma inspired a desire in me to live life to the fullest. It brought my family closer together and gave me the strength to deal with other challenges, a deep appreciation for my life, and the gift of my Camp Happy Times family. The friendships I’ve made at CHT, beginning as a junior counselor when I was 20, have endured for more than half of my life. Those friends are my family, too. After finishing college, I decided to pursue a Master’s Degree in Social Work and was inspired to work with children. I learned many things from my experiences at The Valerie Fund, but one of the greatest lessons was to enjoy my life and appreciate all of my blessings.
Current age: 37
Diagnosis: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)
Age diagnosed: 3 years, 11 months
I was almost four years old when diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. I remember going to The Valerie Fund Children’s Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders for spinal taps, blood tests, and check-ups. Some memories I have from my time at the hospital include watching some of the older Valerie Fund Center children racing on their wheelchairs and IV poles, and joking around with the doctors and nurses.
The Valerie Fund Center and their terrific doctors and nurses supported me and my family, as a a young child and during my teenage years, with the after effects of my treatment. My parents, my brother, and I had a loving relationship with each other during my treatment. This special bond has continued into my adult years as a cancer survivor. Memories of my hospital stays come up sometimes, when looking at old family photos and visiting with relatives. I revisit these memories when I see friends, other TVF survivors, former counselors from Camp Happy Times, and former nurses at events that support TVF.
I attended Camp Happy Times between the ages of 5 and 20. While I was there, I made many friends who had the same experiences that I had. For the past 3 years, I have been able to go back to Camp Happy Times and volunteer as a counselor. I have now been able to share my memories and hear about my campers’ experiences while being treated at a Valerie Fund center.
With help from The Valerie Fund’s scholarship program, I was able to complete my college education and become a certified Early Childhood Education teacher. I also went on to graduate school and have a M.A. in Special Education. Within the past 5 years I have worked as a Special Education Teacher. Currently, I work in Early Intervention as a Special Educator/Developmental Interventionist (DI), with families and their children from birth-age 3, who have developmental delays in: speech and communication, learning, adaptation, and/or physical and fine motor skills.