Name: Andrea Hoehn
Age: 11
DIAGNOSIS: Cancer

Andrea has been cancer free for six months.  Her battle was not easy, but it was worth it. 

Her parents remember the days in the hospital like they were yesterday.  Andrea was 9 -years-old when she started getting sick frequently.  Her mother knew that something was wrong when the doctors in the emergency room began filing in one after the other.  They learned then that Andrea was suffering from a tumor in the face of her cerebellum. 

Andrea underwent numerous procedures from bone marrow transplants to chemotherapy and radiation.  She, like many cancer patients, became very weak and lost her hair.  There were two things that helped Andrea survive.  They were the doctors and nurses and Wolfson Children's Hospital and music.  Pink Floyd, Tina Turner, and the Indigo Girls are just a few bands that played in the cold, white room while Andrea was receiving treatments.  It was that music that helped her to escape.

Andrea’s condition went from bad to worse to much better.  She now has a metal plate in her head, a tube in her stomach, and a walker that helps her get around.  But, Andrea is a cancer survivor.  She can now go swimming in the summer and swing in the park. "All the little things some people may take for granted Andrea is now getting to do," said Michelle.

When asked what they would say to the doctors and nurses who saved Andrea's life they simply said "thank-you."  Her father, said "this becomes your home, and all I can say is thank-you."

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