Abby Dwyer, who was featured at this year's Pine Tree Apple Tennis Classic, is a wonderful young adult who faced cancer head-on after being diagnosed with Philadelphia chromosome positive ALL leukemia almost five years ago.

Abby has been off treatment for two years and is doing well after undergoing a double knee replacement when she was 14 because chemotherapy treatments destroyed her knees.

Abby, a sophomore at Elk River High School, where she plays the saxophone in the band, enjoys participating in pep rallies. She has one brother, Aaron, who later was diagnosed with cancer, and one sister, Allison. Her parents are Tim and Terri Dwyer.

"The staff at Children's – Minneapolis have been amazing with her treatment," Terri said. "It is because of Dr. Joanna Perkins, her primary doctor; Dr. Bruce Bostrom and many others that we have our Abby here today with us. Abby's treatment was very intense for 20 months. We are so grateful for the support and care that the nurses in the hospital and in clinic have given to Abby."

Abby's favorite nurse at Children's was Erin Ryan, RN, because she showed so much compassion to Abby during her difficult treatment. Abby is quick to note that there were many nurses that impacted her care and made her many nights in the hospital more bearable and fun.

Abby loves the outdoors, especially mountains, and to attend camps, which she has done three times this summer.

Spend time with Abby and you'll see that she is a kind and independent person who loves to be around children. She's always looking out for others and offering of herself with her servant's heart. She loves to hang out with friends, play games and watch TV. Abby has an infectious laugh and positive attitude that follow her.

Abby wants to be a nurse or a child life specialist in the future as a way to give back to her community for all of the things that were given to her.

After watching sister battle cancer, Aaron Dwyer faces fight of his own

Aaron Dwyer, who saw his sister, Abby, battle cancer, was diagnosed with stage 3 T-cell lymphoma on Dec. 13, 2013, four years after his sister's cancer diagnosis.

Aaron has 1½ years of treatment remaining. In spite of it being a tough road, he has handled it well by trying to stay positive and keep his faith.

"The Children's staff has been amazing to Aaron. They welcomed him in and have taken incredible care of him during his treatment," his mother, Terri Dwyer, said. Aaron's primary doctor, Joanna Perkins, MD, was there for Abby's treatment, too. "Aaron has had a couple tough points in his treatment, but the staff stepped in and truly gave Aaron the support and encouragement he needed. We could not have made it through it all without the caring team at Children's."

The Elk River High School senior plays the trumpet in the band and two jazz bands.

When pressed, Aaron admitted that two nurses are his favorite. John is his favorite nurse at clinic because the two share many of the same interests, and Leah is his favorite nurse in the hospital because she always makes him laugh and they joke around, which makes his stays a bit more bearable.

Aaron wants to go into the banking as a career. He's already had a taste of it at his job as a bank teller, and he enjoys it.

Outside of work and school, Aaron is busy. He likes to spend his free time cooking new and delicious recipes. He also enjoys hanging out with friends and playing games, riding four-wheelers, running and spending time at home. But that's not all. He also enjoys playing piano, listening to country music, hunting, target practice, camping with his family and hiking.

Like his sisters, Abby and Allison, Aaron is a kind and giving person who always has a smile on his face. He's a hard worker with a great attitude about life and a great sense of humor.