Tiffany Beamer holds her daughter, Miranda, during one of the family’s many visits to the Monroe Carell Jr. Chlldren’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. (photo courtesy of Tiffany Beamer)
Moms band together to raise cancer funds
Dozens of moms whose children have been touched by cancer will be shaving their heads and appearing on a television special to support childhood cancer research.
The “46 Mommas,” including women from the Nashville area, will participate in the shaving event in Los Angeles on Sept. 7, and then will appear onstage during the Stand Up To Cancer live telecast on Friday, Sept. 10, at 7 p.m.
Tiffany Beamer of Bellevue is the driving force behind the newly formed 46 Mommas childhood cancer organization. The group adopted the name because 46 children are diagnosed with cancer every day.
Beamer's daughter, Miranda, was just 3 when doctors at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt diagnosed the youngster with Ewing's Sarcoma.
The toddler spent months at Children's Hospital and went through six rounds of chemotherapy before undergoing surgery to remove the tumor.
More rounds of chemotherapy followed before Miranda was finally pronounced cancer-free.
Becky Evreniadis, here with her son, Jamie, and husband, James, was inspired to join the 46 Mommas by Jamie’s fight against cancer. Jamie died in 2006. (photo courtesy of Becky Evreniadis)
Tiffany Beamer, who has three other children, said her family's experience made her determined to do something for other families.
“I wanted to make a difference for the parents who lost their children to cancer. As a mother I decided to shave my head to show my daughter and the rest of the world that kids get cancer too,” said Tiffany.
“I went online to recruit other “mommas” to support childhood cancer research.”
One of the “mommas” who answered the call was Becky Evreniadis of Nashville.
Her son, Jamie, was 3 when the active little boy complained about pain in his legs. Local physicians couldn't find a cause so Becky and her husband took Jamie to Children's Hospital, where doctors diagnosed him with neuroblastoma, a form of cancer that starts in early nerve cells of the sympathetic nervous system.
Jamie went through several rounds of aggressive treatments with setbacks and side effects.
He finally appeared to be stabilizing when he developed breathing problems and died April 24, 2006.
Evreniadis decided to join the “46 Mommas” in memory of Jamie and “all the children fighting today and the ones who will be diagnosed tomorrow.”
Money raised during the 46 Mommas Shave for the Brave will be used to support cancer research through the St. Baldrick's Foundation, one of the world's largest volunteer-driven fundraising programs for childhood cancer research.