Toronto Marathon

From Keri: 

After a small 4mm mass was spotted at a 26-week ultrasound, we were referred to a team at Mount Sinai in Toronto during a 28-week checkup with our midwives. By 29 weeks, the small mass had grown to a 15cmx12cmx10cm tumour enveloping the baby's face, head and neck. What followed was a whirlwind. Over the next 3 weeks, we put our lives & business on hold as we took countless trips to Toronto. We underwent endless tests and discussions with teams of doctors from Sinai and Sick Kids - the world's best in prenatal care, paediatrics, hematology, plastic surgery and genetics, to try to monitor and diagnose baby beek as best as we could. I was put on an extremely expensive trial drug to attempt to halt the growth of the tumour, which was very hard on me physically. I went into pre-term labor, and we ended up admitted to Mount Sinai Nov 20th at 32 weeks pregnant. After nearly 72 hours of attempting unsuccessfully to stall labor, Linden Beckett Nicolaou was stillborn at 2:37 am on Wednesday Nov 23rd. 

On May 7th I am running the Toronto Marathon in honour of Linden, and to give back to SickKids. Linden would have faced many years in treatment immediately after birth, with a specialized team of doctors ranging from haematologists, surgeons, and facing extensive treatments including scleropathy, chemotherapy, plastic surgery,  and so much more. We are endlessly grateful for the access to care we received and know he would have been in the best hands. On May 8th we meet our doctors again to get Lindens autopsy results. We hope that this weekend and our run can help us find a little closure from a very heartbreaking chapter.

We are running to ensure others continue to have access to this care, and to honour Linden and our families journey in the last year. 

I am a SickKids Warrior. Join me in the fight against the greatest challenges in child health. By choosing to support, you'll be helping SickKids take advantage of huge advances in regenerative medicine, robotics, genetics - to name a few - and tackle the toughest diseases.