About Us
Benny’s World is a 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation established by Benny's parents, Lisa and Brendan, shortly after he was diagnosed with a brain stem tumor. It's purpose is to provide a place where family and friends can feel connected and part of Benny's journey through the Journal. We can all draw strength from each other through the messages of encouragement and support in the Guestbook. Together we can all fight this tumor and help to find a cure. Any life lost to cancer is a waste, to know your child is fighting a diagnosis with such poor odds is heartbreaking.
From Mom and Dad
We'll never forget the day that Benny was diagnosed, Friday January 18th 2008, the day that will forever change our lives. Although in our hearts we both knew that something was wrong with Benny we never ever imagined it would be a brain tumor.
At the very beginning of November 2007 Benny’s left eye started to cross intermittently and over the next couple of days it had become more obvious to everyone. Prior to this he had been turning his head at times to watch the TV with his right eye or just giving his head a shake. We took him to an Ophthalmologist and glasses and patching were prescribed. It took Benny until Christmas to get used to the glasses and actually start looking through them. The glasses and patching definitely helped the eye straighten out but it was obvious that the crossing was still getting worse. Our Ophthalmologist recommended an MRI just to be sure there was nothing else going on.
Benny was sedated for the MRI and when he woke up after the procedure he was very agitated and confused. It was going to take some time to calm him down and so Brendan left to return to work because we didn't expect to get any results straight away. When the radiologist came in and told me that our pediatrician would be calling and that Brendan should come back, my heart sank. Amid the chaos of Benny trying to shake off the anesthesia Brendan took the call from the pediatrician.
We spent the next five days at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Ilinois trying to come to terms with how everything had changed. Looking back it was such an emotional and confusing time, trying to understand what the diagnosis actually was and then discovering the limited options and poor survival rates. But we are grateful for that time the 3 of us had together in such a safe and caring environment.
We knew then that we would establish this foundation. The love and support we have from all our friends and family all over the world has been overwhelming. When something is broken we work out how to fix it. We don't know if we can fix this brain tumor but we have not lost hope. We do know that we will fight it and we thank you for joining us on this journey.
Lisa & Brendan Watters
10th May 2008
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