In February 2017 at the age of 17 months Elizabeth was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma. We (her parents) found a lump on her back near her spine and took her to see her pediatrician and within 24 hours we had the worst news of our lives. After an urgent MRI it was apparent that she had a large mass in her abdominal area that had grown around her spine and was compressing her vertebrae. She needed spine surgery right away in order to mitigate any permanent damage to her spine by removing part of the tumor that was causing damage to her vertebrae including loss of nerve activity to her lower limbs. We also needed to know what exactly the mass was and if it was malignant. Three days later Elizabeth had a successful spinal surgery and by the next day was sitting up in her hospital crib. Two days after surgery she was crawling and cruising around the hospital room. We thought it was a miracle from God but the truth is that she had an incredible team of medical professionals; surgeons, doctors, nurses and staff that were there when she needed them most. We had a huge amount of family and friends praying and sending optimistic thoughts. Most importantly, we had Elizabeth, the strongest and most brave toddler we have ever known. Our beautiful, fun loving, fantastically perfect in every way daughter was ill and we had no idea because she never showed us any reason to believe otherwise. She was a rock star through it all, as we had to stay at the hospital for 9 days straight. A few days after her spinal surgery as suspected it was confirmed that she had Neuroblastoma and after several tests (we will spare you the heart wrenching details) we determined that she was at stage 3 "intermediate risk". We were happy to learn that the cancer had not spread to her bones, bone marrow or other vital organs. Next steps were to schedule surgery to place a central line in her chest and to start chemotherapy right away. The purpose of the central line is to administer medications and draw blood samples. Chemotherapy is needed in order to shrink the tumor to a size that is safe to eventually have an operation to remove. The central line surgery was on March 8th and it went very well, her first cycle of chemotherapy started the very same day. We were at the hospital for 3 days and then were released to go home. We had a scare two weeks after her 1st chemo cycle and Elizabeth was hospitalized for 2 nights for a high fever of 102. This is a common practice for children with her condition and will likely happen again as we continue her treatment. Elizabeth completed her 2nd chemotherapy cycle Friday March 31st. She has been experiencing normal side effects of the treatments most notably hair loss and nausea. But for the most part Elizabeth has been her happy smiling self. Loving the extra time she gets to spend with her mommy who is currently on a leave from work to be her primary caretaker as she cannot attend daycare with her current condition and requires round the clock care. The next several months will be filled with oncology visits to check her white blood cell count, platelet levels, and general health, hospital stays for chemotherapy treatments, MRI's, tests, procedures and surgeries. We want to thank you for your continued support of what lies ahead as Elizabeth's journey to fight this disease continues. We are optimistic that she will beat this all before she even realizes what she has gone through. We are hopeful for a full recovery so we can all get back to our healthy and happy lives. All our love, Nate, Jaclyn & Elizabeth *Thank you for supporting Elizabeth and the more than 300,000 kids worldwide who will be diagnosed with cancer this year. By sharing the gifts of your time, talent and money with the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, you're supporting research to give all kids with cancer a better chance for a cure.