Brave Gowns

11/10/2025

Even with ATRT, this little sunshine rolls into an MRI with the biggest smile, happy, silly, and full of light. Her spirit shines so brightly and reminds us exactly why we do what we do.

We do everything we can to protect that spark, the giggles, the silliness, and the imagination that still believes in magic, even in the toughest moments.

Every gown we send is a soft layer of courage and comfort that helps kids like Bea hold onto their joy when the hospital feels scary.

No child should lose their sparkle while they are healing. Bea’s gown is full of playful kittens that match her sweet spirit. Thank you for believing with us! 💛🐱
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11/07/2025

💛 Every day, we meet real heroes, yet they’re not in comic books or on movie screens. They’re in hospital rooms, wearing Brave Gowns.

These kids show us what bravery really looks like. They face needles, tests, and long days with smiles that could light up the world. They teach us how to be strong, kind, and hopeful, even when things get hard.

A Brave Gown doesn’t give them superpowers, it simply reminds them of the ones they already have. It helps them feel like themselves, laugh like kids, and shine like the superheroes they truly are.

Kids are the best of humanity. Their pureness is all the good in the world and who inspire us to work harder every single day.🦸‍♀️🦸‍♂️

11/07/2025

How sweet is Bea in her flamingo-themed Brave Gown? She just began chemo this week. Her aunt ordered almost every Brave Gown design we have to help make her smile and more comfortable. ❤️

“In mid-September, Bea developed persistent headaches, vomiting, and fatigue — what we thought was an innocent stomach bug. After a doctor reassured us, sending us home with Zofran and Pedialyte, her symptoms worsened. We took her to the ER at Westchester Medical Center, where imaging revealed a 5-centimeter mass in her right frontal lobe. We decided to transfer to Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU for surgery, where Dr. Harter performed a successful resection. Pathology later confirmed the diagnosis: Atypical Teratoid Rhabdoid Tumor (ATRT), a rare and aggressive brain tumor.”

To read more about Bea’s story and treatment, please go to the link in our stories. If you have a moment, please leave them a kind message below for Bea’s mom to read to her. We are praying for treatment to go as smoothly as possible for Bea and her family💛🙏

11/05/2025

Our love for Team Super Sophie and her family only gets stronger as every year passes. We can't believe she'd be 17. Happy Birthday Sweet Sophie. xoxo

10/31/2025

Can you spot it? 👀

I Spy with my little eye: Brave Gown vs standard-issue hospital gowns.

Comfort. Dignity. Personality. Smiles.

One small change that makes a really big difference for kids in the hardest moments. 💛

Thank you to the incredible nurses who get it and keep choosing Brave Gowns for their patients. Kids deserve the best we can do to make their hospital stay a little more childlike. 🎃 🪄

10/31/2025

I can’t make this up.

As a business page, I don’t get access to commercial songs. But I was determined to add audio, which is rare for me. I couldn’t find anything that felt right, so as a last-ditch effort, I clicked on “Copycat.”

It ended up being a version of one of Mac’s favorite songs by Afroman. The very first artist I looked for. Appropriate? No. Very Mac? Yes. Mac loved Afroman. He had to get hos playlist approved before every radiation session to make sure the nurses weren’t offended. They never were. They loved Mac.

Twenty-four years ago, on Halloween, I remember being so sad that I wasn’t going to get to take my son trick-or-treating. He was only four. I never missed a moment, especially one so big. Instead, after a call from our family pediatrician, I was rushing my mom and brother downtown to Children’s Memorial. I had no idea what leukemia was — or that there was a hospital filled solely with children.

That night, the sadness of missing Halloween was replaced with sheer fear. Our lives changed forever.
October 31st, 2001 became diagnosis day.
We were told Mac was being tested for leukemia.
If it was ALL, it would be “good” news.
If it was AML, it would not.
The news we received was one no one expected — Mac had both AML and ALL.
Less than a 1% chance of survival.
A year later, after two stem cell transplants and the worst case of GVHD imaginable, Mac went to heaven. Cancer-free.

That moment divided my life.
Before cancer. After cancer.
With Mac. Without Mac.
When Mac was alive.

For those two years, we watched kids trick-or-treat through his hospital window. One on diagnosis day and one from the PICU. That’s why we do what we do. Just because kids are in treatment doesn’t mean they shouldn’t get to celebrate.

Thank you all for helping me keep Mac’s memory alive and for helping put kids in Brave Gowns for the last ten years. I couldn’t do it without you.

And if trick or treating is tonight is the last thing you feeling like doing, I promise you it’s these memories you’ll miss the most when your kids are older. 💛

If you’d like to sponsor a child on our waitlist in honor of Mac, please do! It’s such a small way to make a big difference!

10/28/2025

As medical families know firsthand, laughter is sometimes the only way to get through the hardest moments. This picture made us all smile, and we’re so happy to hear his results were great! Who knew our skeleton gown would light up during an actual x-ray!

Hi amazing mom Lori shared:

“Thought you would love to see the skeleton Brave Gown getting a chest X-ray! It made so many of us smile! I nearly squealed with delight when I realized what was happening! The entire team got quite the chuckle. Results were unremarkable, which was excellent news.”

We are so thankful to the families who share their stories and pictures — they help us put Brave Gowns into the hands of more children who need comfort and a reason to smile. We aren’t great at sharing what we do behind the scenes. We love letting the kid’s pictures speak for themselves! 🙌

10/27/2025

💛 Every year we send out tens of thousands, sometimes even hundreds of thousands, of Brave Gowns to children’s hospitals across the country. Each one is made with love and sent with purpose because of you.

We often get asked for photos of the kids and hospitals that receive them. As a medical family, we know how busy and emotional hospital life can be, and we never want to add to anyone’s plate. That’s why it means so much when hospitals or families reach out with pictures or thank-you notes. Those moments remind us exactly why we do what we do.

We still have a never-ending waiting list of children and hospitals hoping for Brave Gowns, and we always appreciate your support. Every gown sponsored brings courage, color, and comfort to a child in the hospital.

Thank you for being part of the Brave Gowns family and making such a difference. 💛

10/24/2025

🎃👻 Every holiday, we’re blessed with an incredible group of women who handcraft the most adorable cards to bring smiles to families in hospitals. This Halloween, we’ll be adding one of these boo-tiful cards to every Brave Gown package we send out! 💌🧡

You can help us spread a little extra cheer! Please sponsor a Halloween card for just $2 and show your support for these brave little heroes! We will even include a message from you and sign your name! 🙌

🖤 Donate today and help us make hospital rooms feel a little more like home.

10/23/2025

Inspired by and in honor of an incredible Brave Gowns family, 💛
We have two tickets to the Chargers vs. Vikings game tonight at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles!
Tag someone who would love to go to tonight’s game!
We love you, Porter Family. Tate & Evie are forever in our hearts! 💙💚

10/16/2025

Please join us in sending extra love and prayers for brave Levi as he heads into his transplant appointment next week. After a whirlwind of unexpected tests and ER visits, we’re so grateful he’s okay—and we’re wrapping him in all the courage, calm, and healing energy possible for next week. We bet he sure looks adorable in his new glasses!❤️⚡️

Levi went to the eye specialist yesterday… and the verdict? Just glasses. 🤓

The frustrating part: the specialist had no idea why we were even there, and we went through a bunch of tests that, in hindsight, weren’t necessary at all. I always left his appointments with more questions than answers, so this just adds to my frustration! Needless to say, we won’t be returning to that office. Lesson learned: always trust your gut!

Speaking of trusting your gut… Levi had developed a little “habit” a couple of weeks ago where he’d randomly take a deep breath. At first, we thought it was just because his nose was a bit congested, and honestly, he seemed fine otherwise—vitals all normal, no struggle at all. But over the week, it started happening more often, so I reached out to the team. They thought it could just be a habit—even though his nose wasn’t stuffy anymore.

Well, last night at hockey practice, that “habit” turned into something much scarier. After only about 10 minutes on the ice, Levi was gasping for air every 20-30 seconds. I was freaked out and took him off the ice. A few minutes later, he was fine—but I knew this wasn’t normal. He’s been skating for years and has never done this before.

We headed to the ER downtown first thing this morning. After two failed IVs, a blown IV, numerous tests, and some gross pedialyte… the verdict? No explanation. Every serious thing they could check came back normal. They think it might have been related to a virus he possibly had—but who knows!? Only Levi could pull off something like this!🤦‍♀️ We’re so happy and thankful it’s nothing serious but I hate things that have no explanation. I think our anxiety has developed anxiety at this point with everything Levi throws at us. 🤣🤦‍♀️

Next stop: Routine transplant appt next week. ✅

Thank you for all the kind words, prayers, and positivity coming our way! This month has turned into a very long medical month. 😕

10/14/2025

✨ Why I believe there’s more than just here ✨

Ever since the day Mac died, I’ve seen 11:11 twice a day — every single day. I know this is his way of showing me that he’s still here, just in a different form.

The morning of, October 14th at 7:19am, I asked for a sign that everything would be okay. I turned on my old clock radio for a little background noise, and there it was — 11:11 glowing back at me, right next to my birthday (2/23).

It’s moments like these that remind me that love doesn’t end. It changes form, but it never leaves. And I know deep down, it’s God and Mac’s way of saying, “I’m still with you. Keep going.”

If you ever need a sign, just ask for it and believe. 💛