On September 2nd, 2012 my husband and I packed up our baby girl (six months old) and her brother and headed to the hospital. It was a holiday weekend, doctor's office was closed and she was not waking up or nursing at all that day. We thought she had a double ear infection. While I was holding her little body, all bundled up close to my heart, the ER doctor came into our room. A couple of nurses took our son down to another room to color. The doctor sat down beside me, and that moment in time, became the worst day of my life. Hearing that word . . . cancer I let out the horrible momma scream. The room was spinning, my mind was spinning but I knew at that point our family was on a journey, to kick cancer out of my baby girl and save her life.

I am watching her go through horrible highly toxic chemotherapy. So many tests and transfusions, spinal taps, bone marrows. Horrible side effects, infections, burns. But she continues to come out on the other side with a smile, ready to play and learn and be a kid.

Eleanor has high risk infant acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and it is rare. Only about 90 cases are diagnosed a year. Yup, that's it. Although her oncologist shared her survival rate, shortly followed by the relapse rate with us early into the diagnoses, she promised she would not stop until Eleanor was surviving, 100%. But there needs to be more research, more therapies targeted specifically to each child and type of cancer they are fighting. And so, that is where we sit with all of this. Surviving, pushing forward and living each day making sure we are doing everything 200% and more to see that this happens. Of course I want the world for her, maybe she will grow up to do great and big things. But all I really want, is a little girl that grows up strong and loving who she is. Inside and out.

And so I want to do my part to make this journey even more promising for the next mom who hears that word, cancer. I'm shaving my head to raise money for childhood cancer research! Did you know that kids' cancers are different from adult cancers? It's true. And childhood cancer research is extremely underfunded. Now I need your help! Will you make a donation? Every dollar makes a difference for the thousands of infants, children, teens, and young adults fighting childhood cancers.Including my sweet little Eleanor. Thank you.