Aloha! When we first met Lucy, she was eighteen-years-old and had not only recently graduated from DeLaSalle as a three-sport athlete, she had also just completed her treatments for Hodgkins Lymphoma. Our volunteers quickly learned that Lucy was a big fan of Minnesota Gopher football player and cancer survivor, Casey O’Brien, and that she loves […]
Collin is a car-loving kid so when our wish team was deciding on who would be the best-suited Wish Wizards to interview Collin and help him open up to talk about all of the options for a wish, we solicited our friend Mark Muhlstein to join Karla Blomberg with the interview. Mark is also a
13-year-old Lauren suffers from a multitude of serious medical issues that requires her to have 24-7 care. As the third child of four kids, everyone pitches in to include her in all of the family activities as much as possible. She’s grown too big to be carried and sometimes has difficulty getting comfortable while sitting. A friend
Seven-year-old Luke is the youngest sibling of three kids and is doted on by the entire family. Luke (or Lukey as they lovingly call him) was born with a congenital brain abnormality and has struggled his entire young life with issues such as vision impairment, seizure disorder and developmental delays. His family’s wish, on Luke’s
“Mighty Miles” will always be remembered as a superhero who went into battle fighting Congenital Heart Disease every day of his life. He celebrated his 5th birthday just after his fourth heart surgery. This surgery was supposed to be his final one; however, it didn’t go as expected and resulted in infection and complications resulting in another
Have you ever wondered what the “MORE” in our name means? Well, here’s an example of how we try to do more than just a wish. Ten-year-old Lucy was adopted from China at age four and had she remained there, it is likely she would not have survived. Thankfully, her loving parents brought her home
Collin is the second child in his family to receive a wish from Wishes & More, and he has the same condition as his brother: congenital hydrocephalus and the resultant Chiari malformation. This means that an excess of cerebrospinal fluid plagues Collin’s brain, causing a lot of painful pressure and a variety of alarming symptoms.
Andrew is an exceptional young man who, before his diagnosis of AML (Acute Myeloid Leukemia), was a tri-sport athlete in football, basketball, and track; played the saxophone in band; and enjoyed a variety of volunteer work with his church and other organizations. After graduating from high school, he began his studies at the University of St.
Our purpose in providing a wish is to bring joy, light, happiness and hope to each wish recipient and to the family members who have supported them through some really tough days, weeks and years. When Tanner received his wish at the our annual gala, we saw every one of those emotions cross his face, and
Keaton was diagnosed at age 5 with chronic osteomyelitis, a severe and potentially incapacitating infection of bone and bone marrow. This rare condition has caused him to experience countless infections and surgeries, intense pain and swelling. At age 10, Keaton got an infection in his foot and doctors commented that it was the most severe
Five-year-old Amir suffered a devastating stroke in 2018, leaving him with many physical and mental disabilities. This little guy is full of laughs despite his difficulties, and his big smile will melt your heart. We put out a call to our friends on social media earlier this year to encourage some help in making Amir’s
When Jayden was two years old, he came down with a persistent cough and cold-like symptoms. His parents waited for the “virus” to go away and when it didn’t, mom took him to various doctors before an x-ray revealed frightening news – Jayden had a large mass in his chest. Immediately admitted into Children’s, he was subjected to
In August of 2020, Maya’s parents received the devastating news of a diagnosis of a severe neurological degenerative disease called INAD. From 10-months-old until now, they spent every day questioning the progression of her development and enduring countless doctors visits to determine a diagnosis. Now that they know the serious nature of this degenerative condition,
Three-year-old Matthias lived most of his life in the ICU. He was born with serious heart issues and required constant attention from his medical team. Every day, Matthias shared his beautiful smile with every person he came into contact with and Mom described him as “the sweetest little boy…with so much love to give.” The
Amelia has a spunky, outgoing personality that lights up every room. If it weren’t for the multitude of medications and treatments she endures, and the wheelchair she uses when fatigued, you would never know that she has had several serious medical conditions since birth. This little ray of sunshine battles a progressive and destructive disorder
Mase is an adorable 4 year old who manages to remain extremely happy and upbeat in spite of multiple medical challenges, including Neuroblastoma. He has a port and a trach tube and requires 24-hour care from his adoring family and his full time nurses. His original wish was to go to the Disney Parks; however, after
Abigail was born two months early in July of 2020. She spent all of her days in the NICU battling a very rare heart and lung complication. Doctors worked tirelessly to get her pulmonary hypertension under control before an open heart surgery could be scheduled. Her parents knew that their little love had a huge
David’s mom was five months pregnant when she learned that the baby she was carrying would be born with an extremely complicated heart defect. She knew, before she was able to hold him in her arms, that he would require three heart surgeries. His first one was when he was 6 months old and that
Our goal at Wishes & More is to grant, to the biggest extent possible, the heartfelt wish of a child. One of the most challenging wishes to grant is a “Wish to Meet” opportunity because we have to rely completely on the person the wish child requests to meet. Aaliyah’s wish was to meet a
Social workers play large roles in our wish kid’s lives as they match them with opportunities that are needed as they go through their medical journeys. Frequently, social workers are the referral sources to match wish kids with our organization – which is what happened when Gabby’s family was introduced to WAM. Gabby and her
Corbin is an avid outdoorsman and loves anything to do with hunting, fishing, exploring, and trail riding. He also loves being out on the water and hanging out at his family cabin in Aitkin. In the Spring of 2019, Corbin suddenly began vomiting on a regular basis. His parents were concerned but had a hard
In 2018, we met a beautiful teenage girl who was standing by for a kidney transplant and surviving through dialysis treatments as a substitution for her non-functioning kidneys. Hannah shared her wish for a shopping spree at the MOA and IKEA and we were delighted to help lift her spirits as she decided where and
Isaac is the youngest sibling in a family of six and you can see by the photos how loved he is by the whole family. With three older sisters to dote on him, he gets a lot of attention and affection. Isaac struggles with a series of health complications resulting from Spina Bifida and has spent
We granted Tanner’s wish to outfit a bunk house at his parent’s cabin in Northern, WI in 2019 (https://www.facebook.com/wishesandmore/posts/3554922301200540). Three months after he cut the ribbon on his bunk house wish, he rang the bell for his last day of radiation! The end of treatment is always a major celebration. But what most people don’t
