Elliana is super fierce. She is not afraid to tell people what she wants and when she wants it. She loves music more than anything. Her dad is from Mexico, and he often plays her music and she will just sing and dance along. She also absolutely loves Mickey mouse. She is very independent and loves to push limits. Our little dare devil.
Elliana had a seizure on December 12th, 2017, three days after her 1st birthday. This seizure led to us finding her brain tumor. She was officially diagnosed with Anaplastic Astrocytoma on Jan. 4th. Since her diagnosis, Elliana has battled through 6 rounds of chemotherapy and seven surgeries. I think the biggest battle for us is mentally dealing with the after effects. We all suffer from PTSD. It has changed the way we do everything.
Cancer has 100% changed us, in both good and bad ways. Her cancer has made me a helicopter mom. I am scared of everything. I worry so much about our children getting sick because it was so hard watching Elli battle cancer. Not only that, but her sister has a really hard time. She still feels like she is less cared for or loved. we are doing everything we can to show her we love her. Plus, our marriage suffered for a long time because of it. We are doing so much better but, it was hard.
Elliana watched her great grandfather die of complications of his cancer one day after her first birthday, and then three days later… bam, she had a seizure. She was only given a 20% chance of survival and every single round of chemo she always blew her doctors away with how strong and resilient she was. She always came back swinging.
Hope Session by Hannah Grimmett Photos