Thank you for supporting me 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. Ava was born on June 8, 2015. That was the best day of our lives! This tiny human we looked forward to for 9 months finally had a face, a touch and a smile. Even after Ava (and our whole family) was diagnosed with Stage 4 high risk Neuroblastoma on September 12, 2017, that smile never went away. The doctors found cancer in her lymph nodes, liver, all of her bones and bone marrow. Ava was given a 45% survival rate. As you can imagine, our hearts were broken and still are to date. Ava will need months of chemo therapy, two stem cell transplants, resection surgery, months of radiation, months of immunotherapy and, by the grace of God she reaches remission, she will have a lifetime of scans and maintenance. Ava is such a light in our lives, she can honestly light up any room! She truly makes the darkest days bright. She is spunky and sassy but, also kind and loving. Her favorite song is H.O.L.Y. by Florida Georgia Line which she sings loud and proud! The words really touch our souls…"you're an angel…tell me you're never leaving…'cause you're the best thing I know and I can believe in.. you're holy". We are so proud of her for being so strong and a true fighter every day. We will fight by her side as long as it takes to get our baby girl healthy. We have been blessed with so many wonderful people who have touched our lives. With the love, prayers and support of friends, family and our community, along with love from Ava, we will get through this difficult time in our lives.
UPDATE: Ava finished treatment in September of 2018. She has been NED since then. We continue to take a daily medication to help stop Ava from relapsing. She is doing AMAZING! We aren't done with this fight but we are winning!