April 9, 2026

Wanted to give a birthday shout-out to Ollie’s favorite buddy/brother, Liam!

Liam turned 5 today and we had so much fun celebrating. We went to the Ferris wheel, zoo, a playground, ate at the patio of a restaurant, and then finished the night with a Star Wars cake.

This is a blog about Oliver’s journey, but I wanted to take a minute to talk about what his siblings have been through. Liam was only three years old when Oliver was diagnosed with cancer and taken away to a hospital. The only thing Liam knew about hospitals was that you go there when you are really hurt.

Oliver returned home with a central line (which looks scary to kids) and then was taken back and forth to UNC, leaving Liam without the consistency of me taking him to school, picking him up, etc..

He has had a hard time (as we all have) with the ups and downs of the last year. Although we have tried, it’s hard to explain to a 4-year-old (or anyone really) what’s actually going on. I’ll never forget one day he asked me if Ollie was going to die if he lost his hair.

Although we try to shelter both of them from it, Liam has seen his brother in pain. He has had to forgo parties and play dates because we couldn’t risk him getting sick and spreading it to Ollie. He’s had to tackle feelings and emotions that no one should ever have to, especially at such a young age.

Through it all Liam has been the sweetest brother. He deeply loves Oliver and is very protective of him. They have so much fun together, playing and laughing. He is fun, full of joy, funny, kind, and enjoys life to the fullest.

As Ollie would say — Happy Birthday to our Liam boy. The best brother anyone could have. ❤️

P.S. Ollie update: still doing well after the infusion. We won’t expect to see any symptoms until tomorrow and typically we won’t see anything until after a week. He has so little cancer left that his response to the CART cells may be pretty mild, but until then we are waiting and going to clinic everyday to get labs.