Welcome

Will is our 14 year old son who was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia on March 18th, 2016. At the time he was playing ice hockey on the Colts PeeWee team and was a 6th grader at St. Vincent Martyr School. Intense chemotherapy treatment was administered to Will for eight months and thankfully he achieved remission.  Leukemia patients enter a phase of treatment called “maintenance“ after the intense portion.  During maintenance Will takes oral chemo pills daily and goes into the The Valerie Center at Morristown Medical Center once a month for spinal taps with chemo.  The goal of maintenance is to eradicate any of the last remaining leukemia cells in his body.  Will’s completed his treatment on July 3, 2019. We celebrated  with his Doctors, nurses, and staff from The Valerie Center.

After spending countless days and nights in the hospital, Will decided he wanted to make a difference. Will went from a healthy 12 year old boy that wanted to play professional hockey to a 13 year old with cancer that wanted to find a way that children don’t throw up while on chemo.  He slept mostly during the day, but late at night while on his lap top, he looked at colleges that specialize in medical research.  The boy that could rattle off hockey stats, now understood the meaning and side effects of L-Asparaginase, Vincristine, Daunorubicin, methotrexate, cytarabine ara-c, prednisone, doxorubici, lumbar punch, ANC, HGB, platelet, port and so much more.  Sadly, children with cancer are forced to grow up quickly.  Late one night during a chemo low, Will decided he wanted to be strong...Cody Strong...that night, Cody Strong for a Cure was born.