A Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month story
When Aubrey Hammond began complaining of stomach pains in the spring of 2025, her parents hoped it was nothing serious. They live in Page, Arizona, a remote town five hours from the nearest children’s hospital, so a trip to the pediatrician wasn’t something to take lightly. But after a full workup, the Hammonds received the call every parent fears: Aubrey had a mass on her liver.
Within days, they had packed a week’s worth of clothes and driven to Phoenix Children’s Hospital, unsure of what lay ahead. Then, just two days after arriving, Aubrey’s tumor ruptured, sending her into emergency surgery before doctors had even confirmed a diagnosis.
Aubrey was eventually diagnosed with hepatoblastoma, a rare childhood liver cancer, but at an unusually advanced stage for her age, with complications that called for a specialist few hospitals could offer. That search for expert care led the Hammonds to UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital and Dr. Arun Rangaswami, one of the world’s leading experts in childhood liver tumors.
A Home Away From Home
Far from Page and everyone they knew, the Hammonds found something they hadn’t expected: a home away from home at Family House.
For mom Amanda and Aubrey, Family House has been exactly that for over a year now, through chemotherapy, through surgeries, through every holiday spent far from their own kitchen table. It gave them a place to rest between hospital visits, to share meals with other families walking similarly difficult paths, and to find small moments of joy in the middle of a hard year, like an unforgettable Halloween party where Aubrey dressed up, danced, and simply got to feel like a kid again.
“When so many of our moments this past year have been clouded by pain and fear,” Amanda shared, “Family House offers us a place to celebrate and appreciate the beauty in life, love, and our family.”
Community Makes It Possible
That sense of home doesn’t happen on its own. Community support is what makes Family House possible for the Hammonds, and for every family who walks through our doors during the hardest chapter of their lives.
This Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month, stories like Aubrey’s are a reminder of why that support matters so much. Behind every diagnosis is a family navigating the unknown, often far from home, in need of somewhere safe to land. Your support helps ensure that when families like the Hammonds need us most, Family House is there, offering not just a room, but a community.
Donate today to help families like the Hammonds find home, hope, and healing.
