DIPG Awareness Show Dedicated To Aubreigh Nicholas

Almost one year to the day, Aubreigh Nicholas of Mobile, Alabama, began her diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) journey. In July, I was made aware of Aubreigh's Army and Aubreigh's DIPG battle. I wanted to bring more awareness to DIPG and Aubreigh's story, so I began to put together a show about it. On August 15th of this year, Aubreigh passed away. As part of her legacy, I continued to move forward with the program. This week, my show is in honor of Aubreigh and all those children who are struggling with DIPG and those who have yet to begin their battle. The following guests will be joining me for this special DIPG awareness program:

Brooke Nicholas - Aubreigh's mom. Brooke will share Aubreigh's story.

Dr. Trent Hummel - Dr. Hummel is an oncologist at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, the #1 cancer center for pediatrics in the nation. He is also the chair of the DIPG Collaborative Council and is the connector between parents and medical experts in many situations.

Keith Desserich – Keith is the co-Founder and Chairman of The Cure Starts Now Foundation, the world’s largest DIPG foundation with nearly 40 locations globally. He is also the founder of the DIPG Collaborative, the largest DIPG Collaborative of independent foundations in the world. Keith is also a Steering Council member of the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium and the DIPG Registry. Most importantly, Keith is a father to Elena Desserich who passed from DIPG in 2007. Her story was the first international awareness vehicle for DIPG.

Heidi Feyerherm-Smith – Heidi is the DIPG Collaborative Coordinator and also the Monkey In My Chair director with The Cure Starts Now Foundation. She runs our only non-research focused program that offers a free life-sized stuffed monkey to children fighting cancer so that it can take their place when they go to the hospital for treatment. It collects messages of support for the child and also keeps their connection to their classmates. She started the problem after losing her daughter Chloe to DIPG.