Ivy is 3 years old and has the best big sister and little brother, who she loves so much. She is our sassy child – she knows what she wants and when she wants it and she isn’t afraid to tell you no. She loves her big sister and playing with her. She loves bubbles, playing outside, and loves the water. She is a big fan of Minnie Mouse and Blues Clues and she is a daddy’s girl through and through.
Ivy was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma in March of 2021. In January of that same year, Ivy started shaking constantly. It was like a consistent tremor that never stopped. She started to lose her ability to walk and talk and couldn’t even look at us. Her eyes were constantly moving, she was vomiting 10-15 times a day and we just didn’t understand. We were sent for scans but they found nothing and put her in PT/OT. While that helped a little, something still wasn’t right. We went for follow-up scans in March and that’s when they called and said they found a mass. We found out the next day she had something called Opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome which is an inflammatory neurological disorder. OMS is characterized by associated ocular, motor, behavioral, sleep, and language disturbances. She was also diagnosed with Neuroblastoma.
Once the OMS was treated, Ivy stopped shaking, started talking, and began running and walking again. She then started cancer treatment; Ivy has had 7 rounds of chemo, 7 surgeries, tumor removal, 12 days of radiation, 3 stem cell transplants, and is currently in immunotherapy.
Cancer has changed so much in our lives. I was 6 months pregnant when Ivy was diagnosed. We also have a 7-year-old daughter. Every time Ivy has to go to the hospital, my oldest has to stay with my mom because of my husband’s work schedule and he has to take our almost 1-year-old to a babysitter during the day. I spend most of the time in the hospital with Ivy and take her to and from appointments which involve long commutes.
Ivy has end-of-treatment scans at the end of October and is set to ring the bell at the beginning of November! Ivy continues to blow us away with how strong and brave she has been through all of this and never lets anyone forget she’s got this!
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