Emma is 10 years old. She loves to dance and craft. She has the sweetest heart of anyone I know! She’s so loving and caring! Emma also suffers from severe anxiety which has made her journey much worse. But her journey is also making her stronger! Her anxiety is not 100% gone but she is much braver now. She’s a warrior!!!
Emma has had migraines since she was 4. So in October of 2017 when she started complaining of double vision and bad headaches every day, we thought it was just migraines. I took her to the doctor they said it was probably sinuses and gave her an antibiotic. I asked for an MRI. An entire month later she still didn’t have the MRI appointment. On the weekend before Thanksgiving her left eye started turning inward a little a few times a day, and again she was diagnosed with slight esotropia at age 6. We thought her esotropia was just getting worse. Then her migraines were so severe she was constantly vomiting for 2 days. That cleared up so we thought it was a stomach virus. But her vision started going black, and her eye was permanently stuck in the corner. So I called her optometrist. We had an appointment the next morning, he sent us to a neuro ophthalmologist the following morning. She saw swelling on her optical nerves and sent us to our local children’s hospital’s ER for an MRI. We had to be admitted because with her anxiety she couldn’t do the MRI awake and had to be sedated. This was her first ever sedation. I was terrified!
Before Emma woke up, the doctors had my husband and I in a conference room telling us she had a cyst filled tumor in her brain. We were put on a 4 hour ambulance ride to Le Bonheur in Memphis TN. She cried the whole 4 hours while on the phone with me because she was scared. November 30th we were admitted and the next morning another MRI was done. The following Monday, Dr. Boop removed her tumor completely! She was walking the next morning!
They had thought the tumor was benign the whole time. On Wednesday,Dr Boop pulled us aside and told us the news that her tumor was malignant. I went numb. I walked back into the room with a blank stare and just sat on the couch. I couldn’t speak! My husband and I were in shock! I just looked at my mom and she knew exactly what was wrong. On December 8th we were sent to St Jude to wait on the final pathology. Ependymoma grade 2 is what they told us. But it was completely gone. They did a spinal and we got to go home for her birthday on December 14th. The following Monday we went back for the spinal results, it was all clear! But her tumor was a little more aggressive than they first thought so they wanted to do radiation. I was 35 weeks pregnant so we went home for Christmas. Our baby came early on Christmas Day!
We headed back to St Jude on January 15th for radiation. She had to be sedated every Mon-Fri. But thank god for child life! They helped her through her fears and she is finishing her last 2.5 weeks AWAKE!
This is the hardest thing our family has ever gone through. It has changed our family. We’re stronger, we’re closer, and I no longer take the little things for granted. It’s very hard with a newborn and a 5 year old with us but I wouldn’t have it any other way! I love my 3 more than anything! And I praise God her cancer is gone and pray it never returns.
Emma has grown so much throughout this process. She has become so strong! Her anxiety is under control for the most part and she is making friends! She went from screaming when a nurse walked in to flushing her own port and having dance parties with her doctors. I’m amazed with how far she has come! She truly is a fighter, my warrior! My hero!
