It’s Saturday May 18th this year, and if you want an easy way to remember… Big Bikes is always the Saturday after Mother’s Day.

This year, we ride for 6-year-old Cara (Car-uh) McArthur from Onalaska.  Cara wants to go to the ocean.  Build sandcastles, collect seashells, dip her toes in the water, and to goof off and relax on the beach with her Mom and Dad… maybe her brothers can come too… 😉

With your help, we’re going to make it happen!

Cara’s Story:

She is a brave and spunky little girl who lives with her mom Rebecca, dad Erin, and two older brothers; Brenden (14) and Callen (12). Cara loves animals and has two Great Danes (Toby & Cooper) that she adores! Cara is in kindergarten, loves to dance and sing.  She is legally blind and uses her walking cane to help her get around. Cara does still have some vision, but she needs to be very close to see.

Cara was born in January 2018 after a normal pregnancy. Everything was going well, until her one year well baby checkup. Cara failed her vision screening and they discovered her optic nerves looked a little different.  After a MRI, in May 2019, she was diagnosed with bilateral optic pathway gliomas. These are tumors on her optic nerves and along the optic chiasm.  We were immediately referred to Pediatric Oncology at Gundersen to start chemotherapy.

Cara underwent three different chemotherapy treatments, but none of them were showing results. Cara had a brain biopsy done at Mayo in Rochester and it was discovered that she has the BRAF V600E mutation which causes her cells to divide and grow at an uncontrolled rate. We were able to try targeted oral therapy, but they weren’t working either. Her tumors had progressed and were showing increased enhancement.  Cara had started having troubles with her speech. She couldn’t form the words or get her thoughts out without struggling. She had a seizure on June 9^th, 2023.

After a CT scan it was noted that her ventricles were enlarged. She was admitted to Mayo in Rochester, where she was diagnosed with hydrocephalus. After numerous tests and treatments, she wasn’t making the recovery we all thought she would. By the middle of June 2023, she lost the ability to speak, ability to eat solid foods, and was having major muscle weakness on her right side. An MRI showed that Cara had rapid progression of her tumors and they now affected her brain stem. We had to make the decision to do radiation.

In July 2023, Cara started her 25 rounds of Proton Beam radiation at Mayo clinic in Rochester. Within four days, Cara was able to start talking again!!

It was a huge relief to hear her little voice again! Cara finished radiation in August and has been on monitoring, but has been doing well since. Her last MRI in February showed a slight decrease in the size of the enhancement of her tumors.  She has spent more time in a hospital, than out of one.

Cara tumors will never go away, but with continued treatments, hopefully she’ll be able to continue to improve, and just enjoy being a kid.

Please join us for Big Bikes for Little tikes on Saturday May 18th starting at Great River Harley-Davidson.

If you are unable to attend, you can still register and get a Big Bikes T-Shirt for being awesome!  You can also make a donation directly to the family, to make Cara’s beach vacation to the ocean, a reality.

Click Here to Register or Donate Now

On behalf of the McArthur family and everyone at 95-7 The Rock… THANK YOU, and we’ll see you in May!