#RallyKid Caroline's Fundraiser

Rally Kid Caroline's Story

The Connor family’s lives changed in 2015 when their twins, Caroline and Carson, had just turned one and doctors discovered that Caroline had a brain tumor after she began experiencing earaches and trouble thriving. Further scans at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta revealed she had a juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma, a rare, typically benign, and slow-growing tumor, but because it was located on her optic nerve, surgery was risky. Chemotherapy was recommended, but the first treatment did not work, and six months later Caroline’s health declined, leading to a 12-hour brain surgery that successfully relieved her symptoms, though some of the tumor had to be left behind. After surgery, new chemotherapy initially showed promise, but the tumor unexpectedly metastasized—a rare occurrence in only about 3% of cases. For 11 years, Caroline has endured chemotherapy, immunotherapy, multiple tumors and shunt surgeries, and experimental treatments, while her family leaned on the dedication of her medical team and their determination to keep moving forward whenever one option stopped working. Now a 7th grader, Caroline is back to a more traditional chemotherapy that has thankfully kept her tumor stable for 10 months. Her latest MRI in July revealed stability, and her parents, Bob and Camille, continue to take things one day at a time, deeply grateful for the support surrounding them and the hope that new treatments are bringing.