Gianna is always smiling and enjoys making other people smile. She wants to be an Oncology nurse practitioner and is currently in her second year of nursing school. She still goes to school online and still has a 4.0 GPA. Gianna loves giving back! She organized a toy drive for the children at Sloan Kettering Hospital where she is treated. Gianna has taken her story onto social media to inspire others to be brave in the face of darkness. She loves the beach and traveling. When she is better she wants to study abroad and participate in Doctors Without Borders.
Gianna’s cancer diagnosis was a complete shock to us! She was a perfectly healthy 19 year old who was very active and athletic. She went for blood work so she can start her nursing clinicals at school and that is how we found out.
She has had many different procedures and treatments; including a bone marrow biopsy, intrathecal chemotherapy, intense chemotherapy and many spinal/lumbar punctures. We almost lost Gianna this past summer as she was sepsis. She was in the ICU and when I looked over at her she was still smiling. She amazes me!
I am a single parent who works full time so this has definitely been hard financially. But cancer has brought us all closer and we are more appreciative of each other. We learned not to take life for granted and to always give back.
Hope session by Simi Friedman Photography | Facebook