Birthday party will benefit young cancer victims

COSHOCTON – Ben and Dawn Baker, of Blacklick, have faced plenty of challenges since learning their youngest son suffers from neuroblastoma, a form of cancer most commonly found in infants and young children.

Ben is an account manager for Ohio State University. Dawn is a dentist who left her job to stay home with her children after their youngest son, Franklin, or Frankie, got sick. The Bakers have two older sons, too, Patrick, 4, and Simon, 2.

Frankie’s first tumor was discovered before birth through an ultrasound, said Dawn, a former resident of Fresno and a 2000 graduate of Coshocton High School.

When Frankie was 10 days old, doctors surgically removed a tumor from his chest growing off his spinal cord. At 1 month old, cancer surfaced in his liver. While the liver did get better, cancer returned to the original site at 6 months old.

Chemotherapy caused septic shock, which caused his heart and lungs to begin shutting down. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation took over those functions for five days.

In March, doctors told the family to prepare to say goodbye.

“We called in our family, expecting him to die, and he didn’t die,” Dawn said.

Frankie spent 110 days in the hospital that time.

He’s home now, being fed formula through a tube in his nose. He’s undergoing physical and speech therapy and is tested and scanned regularly at Children’s Hospital in Cincinnati as well.

“He can’t crawl because he has no strength in his legs,” his mom said, “and he has difficulty swallowing as well.”

The survival rate for toddlers with neuroblastoma is low, Dawn said.

“Half of his battle isn’t just the cancer,” she said. “It’s also the consequences of the treatment of cancer.”

Frankie’s cancer is now in stage 4S in more than one location in his body. He has continued to fight back.

“He’s a tough cookie,” Dawn said.

Frankie will turn 1 year old Saturday. His family and friends are hosting a special birthday party for him from 3 to 8 p.m. at the Ohio Union at Ohio State University in Columbus. The celebration will serve as both a first birthday party and fundraiser to benefit nonprofit organizations helping families deal with pediatric cancer.

Those agencies include the Dragonfly Foundation, NC4K, Frankie’s Mission, the Birkshire Foundation, and the Brooke Healey Foundation, among others.

Admission will cost $15 for adults and $10 for children.

The festivities will include an American Red Cross blood drive, separate performances by Nashville singer and former Coshocton resident Casee Allen and the OSU Marching Band, food, cake, a silent auction, as well as visits from former OSU stars Chris Spielman, Roy Hall and Dimitrious Stanley. Buckets will be on hand to collect change for the charities.

“You know, it’s a little bit therapeutic for me, knowing we’re going to help someone else,” Dawn said, “because we’ve been helped for so long. We want to be the helpers again.”

jwilliams6@gannett.com

740-295-3417

Twitter: @Joeadvocate

Learn More

For tickets or more information, visit www.frankiesfight.com, www.facebook.com/FrankieBakersFight, or frankiesfight.webconnex.com/frankiesfight1stbirthday.