Ballard Family

Meet the Ballard Family. “Mighty Mack” is a sweet, stubborn, long-lashed, cuddly boy that was taken to the emergency department after a family camping trip on August 1, 2023. He was stumbling following two weeks of progressively “swinging” a leg while he walked. After a CT scan and MRI, it was determined that he would have immediate surgery to remove the large tumor found to be dangerously displacing his healthy brain tissue and optic nerves. His family got the devastating news that this tumor, called an ETMR, is malignant, aggressive, and rare. Mack will have six months of inpatient chemotherapy, three bone marrow transplants, and likely radiation following. 

On the very same day Mack was diagnosed, his father Dustin was hospitalized with complications of stage four colon cancer. After twelve cycles of chemotherapy and specialized surgeries the previous year, Dustin now faces several more months of chemotherapy, scans, and other procedures to address the cancer that has spread to his liver and lung. Dustin is a hardworking, loving, public-serving, Air Force veteran and father of six. He and Mack are both fighting long and hard. Thank you for loving, supporting, and caring for Mighty Mack, Dustin, and the whole Ballard Family!