About Braxton's Buddies

At six years old, Jon takes on health challenges – like a bone marrow transplant-- with courage, so that he can get back to watching WWE!

Jon has five brothers, two sisters, four dogs and two cats! 

He had fun with his family at Disney World, and even got to pet a baby alligator at Gatorland! 

Izzy is eleven years old and has Chronic Recurrent Multifocal Osteomyelitis (CRMO).   Diagnosed 2 years ago, she has tried several treatments with her Rheumatologist at the U of M.  Right now she takes Humira and Methotrexate, which started at the beginning of the year and dosage increased this summer after a setback.

Izzy plays piano and is a goalie for her travel soccer team and is practicing on her own to get ready to join the local swim team.  She also started surfing this summer on vacation at the Jersey Shore! 

Parker was unexpectedly diagnosed with end-stage renal failure due to Chronic Kidney Disease when she was just 4 years old. She received her life-saving living donor kidney transplant just after her 6th birthday at the Masonic Children's Hospital. Her post-kidney transplant journey has been filled with many subsequent hospitalizations, but she does not let anything slow her down and continues to make the most out of each day. 

Parker lives with her mom Elizabeth, dad Seth, sister Addison, and two dogs, Archie and Cooper. Parker LOVES playing outside, especially digging in the garden and playing in her mud kitchen. She likes doing CrossFit and is a stellar dancer 

We are so appreciative of M Health Fairview's exceptional care and the generosity of our community, which makes special events like this happen! Thank you! 

When Cora was 3, she began crying when her wrists were touched to wash her hands and wouldn’t grip dolls or manipulate anything, holding her wrists in a neutral position. After visits to her pediatrician and orthopedist, we were connected with a rheumatologist at the U of M where she was diagnosed with juvenile arthritis (JIA) in her wrists and fingers. We learned that chronic rheumatologic disease isn’t black and white, and treatments don’t always work the same for everyone. There are no specific answers about when to pause treatment, and stopping medications has a 50% recurrence rate. At 3, she couldn’t swallow pills, so she needed multiple injections per month, which caused anxiety around shots and vaccinations. After 2 years, we paused her medications to see if her symptoms returned, and thankfully, she had no active disease for 2 years. This spring, she began having headaches, double vision, and seeing things that weren’t there. After seeing her eye specialist, she was diagnosed with uveitis caused by JIA. After months of monitoring with her rheumatologist and eye doctor, the medications began to work. Unfortunately, the medications took weeks to stop the inflammation, and the body continued attacking itself in the meantime. Thankfully, there is no permanent eye damage, but she must stay on medication until adulthood to prevent damage. Currently, she has no active disease and visits her doctors every few months, able to do everything other kids can do. 

Cora enjoys a variety of activities including drawing, gymnastics, and animals, especially horses. She also enjoys riding her bike, swimming, and playing with her friends. She is the middle of three siblings, with two sisters—Lydia, age 5, and Evelyn, age 10—and the family also has two cats, Stella and Rosie.  Her parents are Clara & Garrett Griffin.

Elisabeth has been diagnosed with two rare diseases, both of which are being treated at Masonic Children's hospital.  The first is Ehlers-Danlos which causes weakness in her joints and ligaments and affects other organs as well. She receives physical therapy as well as neurology and cardiology care at MHealth Fairview for this syndrome. The second is a rare spinal deformity called Scheuermanns Disease diagnosed this year.  As her disease progressed, the discs between her vertebrate began to degenerate and the kyphotic curvature of her spine put pressure on her spinal cord which caused her to begin to lose feeling in her arms and legs.  In August, Elisabeth had a six hour surgery at Masonic Children's hospital to straighten her spine and fuse her vertebrate with rods and screws.  She was in the hospital for a week and is now working hard in physical therapy to grow stronger.  She has already regained feeling in her arms and legs and is on the road to recovery.  She hopes in the coming year to be able to learn to drive, return to school and ballet in person, and encourage other children and teens living with rare diseases never to give up.  

Elisabeth has a twin brother who is excited to come to a Vikings game with her.  She also has two little sisters, two dogs, and a cat. 

Elisabeth loves crafting, playing the piano and participating in ballet.  She had to give all of this up as her disease progressed, and she is hopeful she will soon be able to return to the activities she loves.

Our 4-year old son, Cor, has life-threatening brain disease and needs a Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT). Cor was born with ALD, a rare disease manifesting as brain disease for some boys, including Cor. This July, we learned Cor has 2 brain lesions, both growing and threatening. We also learned that a BMT should stop the progression of the disease and give Cor a path to a full and healthy life. We're thankful to have met the BMT team and Dr. Troy Lund at M Health early on in the process and are grateful for their expertise and service.

This August, we relocated to Minneapolis for 4 months this fall for treatment and care.

Cor started chemo-therapy this August. The BMT will take place Sept 5th. We'll hopefully be released from the hospital mid to late September and then allowed to return home to Florida mid-December. 

Recovery will take time. Because his immune system is being wiped out, we'll be careful in how we isolate and expose Cor back into community, friends, and school over the course of the next year or so.

We're optimistic about Cor's future, thankful for the medical team here in Minnesota, and humbled by the care and generosity of our family and community. 

Cor loves his people. His sister RJ is his favorite person in the world. He loves snuggling with his momma and wrestling with his dad. His cousins are some of his favorite people. He loves playing outside, jumping off ledges, and making people smile. Cor is a natural goofball, loves his school teachers, and knows that God loves him and is with him, always. Also, easy conversation topics with Cor include marvel avengers, star wars, anything physical like wrestling/fighting/football, and Orlando Magic basketball.

Kiro, 5 years old, was diagnosed with a craniophargioma tumor.  Craniopharyngiomas are benign tumors that grow near the pituitary gland. They can develop as solid tumors or cysts. Approximately 10-15 percent of pituitary tumors are craniopharyngiomas   

Kiro is a very smart, outgoing and inspirational young man. He enjoys life and doesn’t take anything for granted. "Kiro is the strongest kid I know and he’s been through a tremendous experience and always came out with a smile on his face," mom (Champale).

Kiro enjoys basketball, football, Fortnite and dancing.