When our son Max was just three years old,
Our family learned firsthand that treating rare disease often requires families to search beyond what is available locally and travel to find specialized expertise.
Max was diagnosed with an aneurysmal bone cyst in his shoulder, a rare but locally aggressive benign tumor that required specialized knowledge and experience. Like many families facing an unexpected medical diagnosis, we quickly found ourselves navigating unfamiliar treatment options, difficult decisions, and a great deal of uncertainty.
As a mother who has spent my career working in surgery and academic medical research, I understood the importance of finding physicians with deep experience treating rare conditions. I began searching for answers, reviewing medical literature, and advocating for Max to find the best possible care. During that process, I came across a publication describing a newer minimally invasive pediatric interventional radiology approach being used at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.
The more I learned about their experience, the more I realized we had found a team with the specialized expertise Max needed.
The Nationwide Children’s Pediatric Interventional Radiology team has the most extensive international experience treating children with aneurysmal bone cysts using this minimally invasive approach. For our family, knowing Max was being cared for by physicians who had such extensive experience with both this rare diagnosis and this innovative treatment option provided reassurance during a time filled with uncertainty. Their expertise, innovation, and compassionate approach gave us confidence that we were pursuing the best possible treatment option for our son.
But finding the right medical team was only one part of the journey.
We live in Raleigh, North Carolina, and are fortunate to be surrounded by several of the nation’s leading academic medical centers. However, rare diseases often require families to look beyond geography to find the specialized experience and treatment options their child needs. For us, that meant traveling hundreds of miles to Columbus for Max’s treatments, sometimes as frequently as every three months.
That is where Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Ohio became such an important part of our family’s story.
When a child needs specialized medical care far from home, the challenges extend beyond the hospital walls. Families are managing appointments, procedures, recovery, and the emotional weight of caring for their child, all while navigating unfamiliar cities, extended stays, and the logistics of being away from home, other children, and pets.
Ronald McDonald House helps make that journey possible.
Located across from Nationwide Children’s Hospital, the House provides families with something incredibly valuable: the ability to stay close to their child while receiving world-class medical care. Families travel from across the country and around the world to seek treatment at renowned pediatric medical centers like Nationwide Children’s. Having a safe, welcoming place to stay nearby is not simply a convenience, it is an essential part of making specialized care accessible.
From the moment we arrived at Ronald McDonald House, we felt welcomed, not as guests, but as family.
The House provided a place where we could rest after long days at the hospital, share meals with other families who understood what we were experiencing, and find moments of normalcy during a time that was anything but normal. The kindness of the staff, volunteers, and supporters created a sense of comfort and community when we needed it most.
What makes Ronald McDonald House so special is that it supports the entire family, including the child.
While we were focused on medical appointments, procedures, and recovery, Max experienced the House through a child’s eyes. To him, it felt like a mini vacation. He enjoyed exploring the House, making friends with other children staying there, and even joining a game of soccer with other families. Seeing him laugh, play, and simply be a kid reminded us that childhood continues even in the middle of a medical journey.
Those moments meant more than we can fully express.
Today, Max is doing well, and we remain incredibly grateful for the exceptional care he receives from the Nationwide Children’s Pediatric Interventional Radiology team and everyone who has supported him along the way. We are equally grateful for Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Ohio, which provided our family with comfort, stability, and a true home away from home while Max received the specialized care he needed.
Because of the impact Ronald McDonald House has had on our family, we chose this organization as the beneficiary of our family’s annual Christmas fundraiser. Each year, our family looks for an opportunity to give back to a cause that has made a meaningful difference in our lives. Supporting Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Ohio was an easy decision. Over the past three years, we have seen firsthand the difference this organization makes for families during some of their most challenging moments.
When we later had the opportunity to sponsor a guest room, it felt like the perfect way to continue giving back.
We know what it feels like to leave home because your child needs specialized expertise that may only exist hundreds or thousands of miles away. We know the stress of traveling, the uncertainty surrounding procedures, and the emotional exhaustion that comes with caring for a child through a medical journey.
Our hope is that the families who stays in the room we sponsored feels the same comfort, compassion, and support that our family experienced. We hope they have a place to rest after difficult days, a place where their child can still laugh and play, and a reminder that they are not walking this journey alone.
To everyone who supports Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Ohio, whether through donations, volunteering, preparing meals, sponsoring rooms, or simply sharing their mission, thank you. Your generosity does far more than provide lodging. You help families stay together. You make specialized pediatric care more accessible. You give children moments of joy during some of the hardest days of their lives.
Ronald McDonald House Charities is truly more than a place to stay. It is a place where families find strength, children find moments of happiness, and hope has room to grow.