Hope, Healing, and Giving Back: My Grandson’s Childhood Cancer Journey and the Organizations Who Helped Carry Him Through

There are moments in life that split everything into a before and an after.
For our family, that moment came in September 2021 when my first grandchild, Gavin, was just 16 months old. The words “he has cancer” were enough to steal our breath, rewrite his future, and rearrange the shape of every day that followed.

Gavin was diagnosed with stage 4 hepatoblastoma — a rare childhood liver cancer that affects only one to two children per million. By the time it was discovered, tumors had overtaken his liver and traveled to both lungs. Overnight, we traded playdates and toddler snacks for emergency treatment, chemo schedules, PICU rooms, and the unfamiliar rhythm of life lived between hope and fear.

This is not just a medical chart. It’s a childhood — and a family — forever changed.

Today, as we approach Giving Tuesday, I’m sharing Gavin’s journey — not to seek sympathy, but to highlight the places that helped carry Gavin through. If you feel moved to give this year, I hope you’ll consider one of these four extraordinary organizations.

A Journey No Family Imagines

The months that followed Gavin’s diagnosis were a blur of long drives — three hours one way — from Holcombe, Wisconsin, to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. There were weeks spent in the hospital, chemo rounds, blood draws, and prayers.

Yet Gavin endured it with a kind of quiet courage I still struggle to put into words. He accepted blood draws without protest. He learned to maneuver life with ports, feeding tubes, and medications with a stoicism far beyond his years.

And while Gavin fought, my daughter Alyssa — pregnant with a due date looming — carried both her baby and her fear with astounding strength. No mother should ever have to face chemotherapy drips for one child while her unborn baby kicks inside her belly. But she did. With grace. With grit. With a fierceness only a mother can summon.

Two Transplants and a Miracle

In January 2022, Gavin underwent his first liver transplant. Four days later, we learned it had failed.

It is impossible to articulate what it feels like to go from the absolute joy of receiving the transplant to losing hope all in the course of days.

He remained in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit as we waited — praying, bargaining, willing the universe to open a door. Two weeks later, it did. Gavin received a second liver, and this one… this one saved his life.

The months that followed brought complications, recovery setbacks, countless scans, and endless waiting rooms. But they also brought a new baby — Theo — born in Rochester and welcomed into a family still raw and healing, yet profoundly grateful.

Finding Joy Again

As the years unfolded, the aftershocks softened. Gavin learned to walk again with confidence. His hair grew back. His laugh resurfaced. He started public school this fall — kindergarten — and loves every minute of it.

He remains immunocompromised. He wears hearing aids due to chemo-related hearing loss. He takes medication twice a day for life to protect his transplanted liver. Even a simple cold can send him back to the hospital.

But he is here. He is thriving. He is astonishing.

And this year, Gavin received something extraordinary: a Make-A-Wish trip to Florida, with a stay at Give Kids the World Village — a magical place where sick children are treated not as patients, but as royalty.

The trip to Florida included visits to Disney World, Sea World, and Universal Studios. All costs were covered — travel, a rental car, food, entertainment, even a stroller. It was truly a wish come true for their family.

His favorite wish? Unlimited trays of fish food to feed stingrays and other creatures.
(Every five-year-old’s dream, apparently.)
He got it — and then some.

That week not only gave Gavin joy, it gave their whole family light after years of darkness.

Four Organizations That Carried Him Through

Below are four places that made a huge difference by providing unique support in different ways throughout Gavin's journey. If you are looking for a way to give on this Giving Tuesday, I invite you to consider supporting one of them.

1. Mayo Clinic Child Life Program

Where healing feels gentler, safer, more human.

This program provides toys and family support to children while they stay at the clinic. They help to minimize stress, provide moral support, support for siblings, and help families stay connected through their stay.

You can donate directly or send toys through their Amazon list:

2. Give Kids the World Village

A magical, cost-free haven for families carrying impossible burdens.

Give Kids The World Village is an 89-acre, nonprofit “storybook” resort in Central Florida. Here, children with critical illnesses and their families are treated to weeklong, cost-free vacations.

Give Kids the World is where Gavin rediscovered pure childhood joy. It gave him and his family a week of laughter, adventure, and healing. Time away from hospitals. Time to breathe.

3. Make-A-Wish

Granting a wish come true for children diagnosed with a critical illness.

Make-a-Wish provides inspiring experiences that help families relieve the experience of traumatic stress. The program helps children diagnosed with a critical illness believe that anything is possible and gives them the strength to fight harder against their illnesses.

4. Eau Claire Children’s Museum

Play as therapy.

The museum became a sanctuary between appointments and blood draws — a place where Gavin and Theo could play, explore, and simply be kids. Inspiring learning through play and one of Gavin's favorite hang-outs.

As a Family, We Give Back Because We Were Held

Gavin is here today because of exceptional medical care…
…but also because of kindness.

Strangers who donated their time.
Friends and family who prayed and donated.
Organizations that lifted emotional burdens.
Communities who supported in big and small ways.
Doctors, nurses, staff, and volunteers who never treated Gavin as a case number.

As a grandmother — as a mother — I carry deep gratitude for every person and organization who helps support Gavin and his family through his journey.

A Giving Tuesday Invitation

If your heart feels pulled to give this year, I invite you to support one of these nonprofits making real, meaningful difference for children with critical illnesses and their families.

Every donation — big or small — helps carry another family through their darkest days.

Thank you for letting me share Gavin’s story
and thank you for being part of this 7 Day Glow community.

Wishing you hope, healing, and the quiet gift of giving,

Christine Untiedt | CEO, 7 Day Glow

 

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