On April 13th, 2018, some friends and I at Georgetown's School of Medicine are hosting the annual St. Baldrick's head shaving party to show solidarity with kids going through cancer treatment. Until then, we are working to raise money for St. Baldrick's, which funds more childhood cancer research than any other organization besides the US government. All donations made to this page will be in honor of Ella Phillips-Shimovetz.
Ella's family has been close friends with mine for years. Just before her fourth birthday in April 2016, Ella was diagnosed with a biliary rhabdomyosarcoma. Rhabdomyosarcoma is a malignant tumor of muscle cells and the biliary tract is responsible for draining bile into her intestines from her gallbladder. She went through chemo and radiation and she handled like a champ. Unfortunately, in November 2017, another tumor was found in Ella's abdomen. She had relapsed. She had surgery to remove the tumor and is currently undergoing chemo and radiation for the second time. Although this round of treatment is more aggressive and harder on her, she is once again taking it in stride. She is fearless and sassy and we have every confidence in her ability to overcome this.
Ella's particular type of cancer is exceedingly rare. To our knowledge, there are currently only three other children in the world being treated for a biliary rhabdomyosarcoma. Kids like Ella are the reason we need to raise money for pediatric cancer research. Please consider donating to this page – every dollar makes a difference. And as for Ella, "though she be but little, she is fierce."
