| Most people have never heard of PLNTY. Truthfully, neither had we.
PLNTY stands for Polymorphous Low-Grade Neuroepithelial Tumor of the Young — one of the rarest pediatric brain tumors in the world, with only a small number of documented cases.
But medical terminology only tells part of the story.
What families quickly learn is this:
You cannot prevent it. It is not inherited. It is not caused by something a parent did wrong.
It is random. A microscopic copy-and-paste error in a single brain cell. Lightning-strike biology.
And when you hear that as a parent, the world changes.
You realize how fragile life can be. But you also realize how extraordinary children are in the face of things they should never have to carry.
In the middle of scans, seizures, fear and recovery, a quiet promise started forming: that if we found our way through this, we would find a way to move love forward for the families walking behind us.
And somewhere along the way, another truth slowly emerged too:
If something this rare found its way to Liv, then maybe she was never ordinary to begin with.
Because what continues to stand out most about her is not the diagnosis. It is her light. Her resilience. Her ability to make people feel seen, safe and hopeful even after everything she has walked through.
PLNTY is so rare that there are no massive national campaigns behind it. No endless stream of research dollars. No large infrastructure carrying families through it.
What exists instead are people willing to show up anyway.
Doctors who refuse to stop searching for answers. Families learning to navigate the unimaginable. Communities choosing to care. And a young girl determined to turn pain into purpose.
That is why Liv Forward exists.
To advocate. To raise awareness. To support pediatric brain tumor research. And to bring light into corners that too often remain unseen.
For Liv. And for every child and family who deserve better answers, better treatments and more hope for the future.
Thank you for being here and helping us live love forward.
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