Pennsylvania SE (Mallory Sky's the Limit)

Mallory was diagnosed with DMG after experiencing VERY subtle symptoms, brought to our attention by her devoted Pre-K teachers. We had no idea at the time that a casual hallway conversation at school in January would be the catalyst to our lives turning upside down. After morning drop-off, I passed one of her teachers on the way out and she mentioned that she had seen Mallory’s eyes crossing on occasion and asked if I had noticed it at home, to which I replied “no.” I thanked her for letting me know and that I would make her an appointment to see an ophthalmologist. I assumed she may just need glasses to correct her vision.

Over the next few weeks, we did start to notice Mallory’s left eye turning inward a bit, especially in the evening when we figured she was getting tired. On Superbowl Sunday, we had some friends over and noticed Mallory’s left hand shaking while cutting paper and holding her fork to eat. We chalked it up to social anxiety and having guests. On Wednesday 2/12, the Pre-K supervisor emailed us for a time to talk, and she too noticed something was off with Mallory’s balance. At this point, nagging in the back of our minds was a story about a local 12-year-old girl who was recently diagnosed with DIPG, and given the overlap of symptoms, we ignored the pediatrician’s advice to make a neurology appointment and took her straight to the ER at CHOP King of Prussia, where we were triaged quickly. Mallory passed the neurology exam and the attending physician decided to order a CT scan only after I suggested she speak directly with Lonnie’s brother, a PICU attending in NJ. What followed after was a series of unbelievable and completely devasting news where they discovered swelling in Mallory’s brain. She was transferred via ambulance to CHOP Philadelphia, where she was admitted to the PICU for an MRI the next day.

Mallory has had such an innocent outlook to this entire situation so far and is taking all of the appointments, time away from home, and change in routine in stride.  She completed 6 weeks of radiation treatment like a champ and we are grateful to see her experience joy every day.  We are surrounding her with tons of love, family and all of her favorite things as we endure this battle together. 

Mallory is the daughter of our dreams. She loves spending time at the beach, relaxing in the hot tub, learning new facts, snacking, and making everyone around her smile. After developing subtle symptoms, Mallory was diagnosed with diffuse midline glioma (DMG), an aggressive pediatric brain tumor. We never imagined that a casual hallway conversation at her preschool would become the first step in a journey that would change our lives forever.

“By launching SE PA – Mallory Sky’s the Limit Chapter of The Cure Starts Now, we are committed to transform our pain into purpose and to help raise awareness, fund critical research efforts, and find effective treatment for all impacted children and families, maybe even during Mallory’s lifetime. There is absolutely no reason why DMG/DIPG cannot be included as one of the other 90% of pediatric brain tumors with a good 5-year survival rate. “-Kaplan Family

The Cure Starts Now (501c3 Federal Non-Profit) is one of the only cancer foundations dedicated to a “homerun” cure for all cancers, starting first with one of the most deadly and difficult cancers: pediatric brain cancer. Many experts believe that the lessons we learn from fighting pediatric cancer may in fact provide us the critical first step in winning the battle against all forms of cancer, both pediatric and adult.