Meet Cecilia, our 7th bedroom transformation recipient! In April of 2016, Ceci was diagnosed with a Stage 3 Wilms Tumor. As a result, she underwent surgery in May 2016 at the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. The surgical team was able to remove the entire pineapple size tumor along with her left kidney and part of her diaphragm.

The Designing Dreams team was beyond thrilled to complete Henry’s bedroom transformation in December 2016! Our goal was to capture his positive and creative energy within our work. We feel privileged to have had the chance to work with and get to know Henry and his family. Henry and his family have been a blessing to Designing Dreams!

Clementine (Emmy), age 8, was diagnosed in November 2016 with bleeding on the brain due to a tumor. After a successful surgery to remove the tumor, her family had the final devastating diagnosis of cancer, Glioblastoma Multiforme grade 4 (GBM). Clementine is a wonderful, loving 8 year-old little girl who is continuously expressing generosity and thinking about others, especially her sister Penelope (Penny). She enjoys expressing her creativity throwing different outfits together, and her family jokes that she could be the next Betsy Johnson. Her unique creativity also extends to her art projects. Emmy and Penny hoped to have cozy spaces to curl up and read their books.

In December 2015, Bella developed a hard lump on her left hand after hanging from a pull up bar. Her primary care physician ordered X-Rays, which showed damage to the bone in her hand. A follow-up CT scan showed probable malignancy. After surgical excision of her tumor, Bella was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare cancer that affects connective tissue in the body. Throughout 2016, Bella endured a long, difficult treatment path. She underwent chemotherapy weekly, sometimes daily for a week, from the end of January 2016 until just recently.

Jared is a 12 year old boy who has Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis (LCH), a cancer-like condition. LCH involves a proliferation of Langerhans or abnormal cells deriving from the bone marrow, which can migrate from skin to lymph nodes and can result in bone lesions as well as multisystem disease. He has a specific neurodegenerative type which affects his central nervous system leaving which has resulted in some physical limitations, cognitive issues etc. His speech at times is slurred.

Mason is an adorable four-year-old boy from St. Paul, Minnesota who was diagnosed with B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) when he was two. ALL is a cancer of the white blood cells, the cells that are used to fight infections. Since his initial diagnosis, he has undergone induction therapy and has also endured many rounds of both intravenous (IV) and spinal chemotherapy. Mason is truly a trooper and always has a smile on his face, which is extremely inspirational considering his difficult treatment.