Gabriella

Gabriella has always been a happy, healthy kid until our world was flipped upside down March 19th, 2012. Our whole ordeal begun January 24th, when I noticed a small flap of skin G's pelvic area. I called the doctor immediately and took her in the next day only to get the "she's totally normal" check up. It was about a month later (after watching this flap grow and increasingly look abnormal) when I finally insisted that this wasn't normal and it needed further examining. XRAY's and ultrasounds were ordered finding unusual results. We were referred to Lucile Packard Children's Hospital to speak with a pediatric oncologist. Hearing these words confirmed my absolute worst nightmare and my world just caved in around me.

Gabriella was diagnosed with a rare childhood cancer called Embryonic Rhabdomyosarcoma. We are currently in radiation treatment at Stanford Hospital and counting down the last 5 of 28 treatments. Luckily the prognoses is in our favor but the journey over the last 6 months and seeing what our little girl has to endure has been close to hell. All around, she has been handling this incredibly well. Gabriella is a big sister to Bridget, who is almost 2 1/2. It's been just as hard on Bridget but she is also handling the journey like a champ. We've tried our hardest to take the positives out of the situation and learn how to live life a moment at a time.

As my family and I travel this journey, we've also learned how little funding is dedicated to childhood cancer research. We are hoping to help make a difference in this area as we plan our bake sale for Cookies for Kids' Cancer. We are so grateful for foundations such as this who are helping to make an impact in the world of pediatric cancers in hopes that no children have to deal with such a disease.