Ellie is wickedly smart and incredibly sarcastic. She makes jokes/puns constantly. She loves harry potter, percy jackson, greek mythology, dungeons and dragons, reading, puzzles, crafts, mysteries, escape rooms, and anything related to becoming a doctor.
Ellie was diagnosed when she was 5 years old and was in treatment through the middle of 3rd grade. She was diagnosed after a month of illness that never went away, loss of appetite, bruising, joint and stomach pain, fatigue, and paleness.
Ellie went through over 2.5 years of chemo: spinal taps, IV chemo, having a port implanted in her chest, shots, and pills (sometimes up to 15 a day). She struggled with an anxiety diagnosis (remains on medication for her treatment-induced anxiety to this day) and was diagnosed with ADHD that resulted from the brain damage done from the intrathecal chemo she was given. Ellie struggled with physical issues such as neuropathy, weight gain, and muscle weakness. She has worked hard on these things and is doing well.
We are doing well now, but it was extremely hard on the family, particularly Ellie’s sisters. Even 7 years since diagnosis and almost 5 years off treatment, we are still discovering ways that Ellie’s sisters and us (parents) deal with post-traumatic stress.
March of this year marked 5 years off treatment and she is now a long-term survivor of childhood cancer. She has been counting down to this milestone for 5 years!
Hope session by Olive and Grace Photography | Facebook | Instagram