Anderson Raises Money for Children with Cancer
- In an adorable photo posted to Instagram, CNN’s Anderson Cooper, 53, poses with his son Wyatt, while Cooper wears a #TeamBeans beanie.
- The beanie was created in honor of Francesca "Beans" Kaczynski, the daughter of CNN reporter Andrew Kaczynski, who passed away after a battle with a rare and aggressive brain tumor; she was just 9 months old.
- Brain cancer treatments include radiation, chemotherapy, and surgery.
View this post on InstagramRead MoreRelated: TV Host Maria Menounos on Her Brain Tumor & Her Mom's Stage 4 Brain Cancer; 'I Want to Spread Hope,' She Says in New InterviewAccompanied by an adorable photo of him with his child, Cooper writes on Instagram, “As a new parent, I am lucky that my son is healthy, but there a lot of kids facing life-threatening illnesses. Francesca "Beans" Kaczynski died of a rare brain cancer when she was just 9 months old. In her honor, we at CNN are raising money for kids with cancer. Be part of #TeamBeans! Proceeds from the sale of these beanies go to @DanaFarber. Buy them at http://teambeans.shop, or donate directly to Dana-Farber.org or @danafarber on Instagram.”
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Francesca "Beans" Kaczynski’s Story
You may notice in Cooper’s photo that he’s wearing a #TeamBeans beanie. The beanies are available for purchase and proceeds support children with cancer. “Every beanie purchased supports TEAM BEANS at the Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC), a fully supported bike-a-thon to benefit the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Every dollar raised by TEAM BEANS will be donated to the Atypical Teratoid Rhabdoid Tumor (ATRT) Fund at Dana-Farber,” the website states.
The #TeamBeans beanie was created to honor the memory of Kaczynski’s daughter, Francesca "Beans" Kaczynski. She passed away at just 9-months-old after fighting an aggressive and rare brain tumor, ATRT. CNN’s Dana Bash also posted in support of the fundraiser. Bash writes, “Today would have been the beautiful Francesca "Beans" Kaczyinski's first birthday. She lost her battle with a rare form of brain cancer Christmas Eve at just 9 months old…”
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“Today @cnn is launching a fundraising campaign #teambeans where you can purchase this hat at teambeans.shop and donate to @danafarber…”
Chris Cuomo also joined in to show his support. In a post sporting the beanie, he says, “Now can you focus on helping? #TeamBeans is about raising awareness for pediatric cancer. @danafarber is a great place to start because of @andykaczynski and his family’s connection there. He and his wife fought for and with their daughter Francesca “Beans” against cancer and opened our eyes to the need and opened our hearts to help. Will you join?…”
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Brain Cancer Treatment
Brain cancer is typically treated with surgery, radiation or chemotherapy. Newer treatments, like Optune, are also on the horizon, and offer hope to some patients fighting brain cancer.
"I just want to emphasize to patients that when I first started doing this in 1999, there were maybe less than 5% of patients with this disease that were alive after two years," Dr. Suriya Jeyapalan, a neuro-oncologist at Tufts Medical Center, tells SurvivorNet in a previous interview. "Now we're getting out to maybe a third of patients alive at five years. This is not your father's brain tumor, and I want to sort of give a message of hope to patients. In the future, we'll add to these treatments and make it even better."
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