Aria’s Creative Wave Support Fund
Donation protected
June 10, 2002- September 14, 2019
A creative wave is surging after Aria’s passing : A music concert in Aria’s memory is scheduled for November. A book containing her poetry and art will be published. Songs inspired by her life message are being recorded and some of her poems are being composed.
We took a journey no one wants to take.
We started our journey in Summer 2018 when Aria (16) started complaining about pain in her thigh. “Put some ice on it...”, a month or so later, after a few doctors appointments, X-ray, and an MRI, I received an unexpected call from the Sports Medicine doctor who informed me that Aria has bone cancer. A diagnosis was given in mid September that it is metastatic Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare cancer that happens mainly in teenagers.
The next eight months included six rounds of intense chemotherapy, then a limb salvage surgery, where an implant replaced most of Aria’s femur. At that point Aria’s scans showed that the spots in her lungs and on the spine and pelvis were reducing in size.
After the surgery Aria took PT sessions and was learning to walk again.
Four more relentless rounds of post-surgery chemo followed.
Scans were taken again, and none of us was ready for the news received by Aria’s oncologist last week. “The scans don’t look good. The disease stopped responding to the chemo and now spreading, and we are taking you off of chemo.”
After four more months of dealing with discomfort, pain, and weight loss, Aria needed an emergency back surgery to remove a tumor from within her spine, leaving her paralyzed from the waist down. Few weeks later Aria was dealing with shortness of breath and creeping paralysis towards her midsection and chest.
Aria passed on September 14, at 3am, peacefully, with both parents, and beloved pets, Kiwi and Cocoa Bean by her side. Hundreds attended her funeral and shared a legacy of a young woman who supported many of her friends who encountered life challenges.
May her memory be a blessing to everyone.
A creative wave is surging after Aria’s passing : A music concert in Aria’s memory is scheduled for November. A book containing her poetry and art will be published. Songs inspired by her life message are being recorded and some of her poems are being composed.
We took a journey no one wants to take.
We started our journey in Summer 2018 when Aria (16) started complaining about pain in her thigh. “Put some ice on it...”, a month or so later, after a few doctors appointments, X-ray, and an MRI, I received an unexpected call from the Sports Medicine doctor who informed me that Aria has bone cancer. A diagnosis was given in mid September that it is metastatic Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare cancer that happens mainly in teenagers.
The next eight months included six rounds of intense chemotherapy, then a limb salvage surgery, where an implant replaced most of Aria’s femur. At that point Aria’s scans showed that the spots in her lungs and on the spine and pelvis were reducing in size.
After the surgery Aria took PT sessions and was learning to walk again.
Four more relentless rounds of post-surgery chemo followed.
Scans were taken again, and none of us was ready for the news received by Aria’s oncologist last week. “The scans don’t look good. The disease stopped responding to the chemo and now spreading, and we are taking you off of chemo.”
After four more months of dealing with discomfort, pain, and weight loss, Aria needed an emergency back surgery to remove a tumor from within her spine, leaving her paralyzed from the waist down. Few weeks later Aria was dealing with shortness of breath and creeping paralysis towards her midsection and chest.
Aria passed on September 14, at 3am, peacefully, with both parents, and beloved pets, Kiwi and Cocoa Bean by her side. Hundreds attended her funeral and shared a legacy of a young woman who supported many of her friends who encountered life challenges.
May her memory be a blessing to everyone.
Organizer
Lee Lavi
Organizer
Los Angeles, CA